"Zephyr, Helena, welcome back!" As Zephyr and Helena exited the vehicle at the Allorim family estate, they were greeted by the head gardener.
As the two walked through the compound towards the mansion that served as the main house, they greeted and were greeted by various staff and family members. Having a lineage stretching back centuries, and having influence in every field imaginable, the Allorims were one of the oldest and most powerful families in Heon, maybe even one of the most powerful in all of the country of Azria This being said, members of this family were held to a certain standard.
As the two climbed the steps to the main house Zephyr sighed deeply, his relationship with his grandfather certainly wasn't a bad one, but he could be incredibly strict at times, and given the way he was called here Zephyr was sure this was one of those times.
"Grandfather is expecting you in his study, best not to keep him waiting any longer." Helena pushed the door open and gestured him in but didn't go any further than that.
"Come on Helena, can't you at least come with me, for moral support?"
"I'm afraid I have other matters to attend to, and my duty ends with delivering you here."
Zephyr stared at her for a second, before lowering his head in resignation and walking through the door, mumbling under his breath;
"Jeeze, is everyone going to hang me out to dry today?"
"I believe you're being a bit overdramatic, for what it's worth, grandfather doesn't seem too terribly upset."
"He never does, that's the worst part!" But as the door closed behind him he was met with only silence, both from Helena and from the inside of the house. The rest of his family was out at the time, so it would be just him and his grandfather for whatever uncomfortable amount of time he wanted to lecture him for.
Reaching the door to his grandfather's study, Zephyr took a deep breath and raised his hand to knock on the door, but before he could the knob turned it opened on its own, and a voice called to him from within the room.
"Come in Zephyr."
"Geez it's impossible to sneak up on you." As he entered the study, Zephyr was met by the visage of his grandfather sitting behind his desk, reading some sort of document and typing away at his computer. He wasn't using his hands for this however, as the document floated in the air beside him and the keys on the keyboard depressed on their own, as though there was some invisible being in the room aiding him.
"I need to learn kinetic magic. It's way too useful."
"This isn't kinetic magic Zephyr, it's a form of force-based magic, rather than using energy to manipulate these objects I'm manipulating that energy itself."
"...I'm lost."
"Not surprising, the difference is a subtle but meaningful one, I would be glad to teach you the theory surrounding it once you're ready."
Zephyr's grandfather Malakus wasn't the most imposing man at first glance, being of average height with grey hair, and despite being fit for a man of seventy-two, you wouldn't assume meeting him for the first time that this was one of the most powerful men on the continent, but his appearance betrayed just that. He was a former headmaster of the Allorim School of excellence, had led Azria's Order of the Knights for a time, and was a former CEO of Allorim Industries along with many other titles. Now though, he stayed mostly out of the spotlight, lecturing at the school named for his family and aiding his children however he could.
Looking up from what he was doing, Malakus adopted a more serious expression.
"Zephyr, you know why I've called you here right?"
Zephyr immediately stood straight and answered respectfully, he knew better than to do otherwise at a moment like this.
"Yes grandfather."
"I know we had this conversation when you were placed in B class, and you promised me you would do better, but here we are and you are right on route to being placed there again after the aptitude tests. Not just that but I hear you've been slacking off, submitting assignments late and sleeping in class. I've told you this a million times but YOU are the heir to this family, the next head whenever your father decides to step aside, you have to do better."
"I understand grandfather."
"I'm sure you do, so why haven't I seen any meaningful improvement?"
Zephyr lowered his head and fought off the scowl that threatened to appear on his face, it wasn't like he hadn't tried to improve, but he wasn't a genius like Helena or his grandfather, it didn't come naturally to him like it did to them.
"I'm sorry grandfather...I'll try to do better from now on."
Malakus pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, he hadn't been looking forward to his anymore than his grandson had, and he knew that it wasn't easy for him, but he had to push him, as the heir to the family he was expected to be a beacon of excellence for those around him.
"Zephyr, I know that you have tried, and that you haven't had the easiest time of things, but that doesn't change the fact that you can do better, I'm confident of that."
"Yes grandfather."
"Now you may go, but I hope you understand that I'm saying this not just for the sake of the family, but for your sake as well. You are no less talented than your father or I were at your age, and I'm sure that talent would shine through if only you'd give it the chance."
"Understood." Zephyr bowed to Malakus before turning and silently walking out of the room and closing the door behind him. Walking down the hall away from the study, he found Helena waiting for him.
"Hey Zeph, you ok? You've got a sour look on your face there."
"Not in assistant mode anymore huh?" Zephyr had always found it strange how much of a contrast there was between the way she behaved when acting as their grandfather's assistant and the way she behaved when she wasn't.
"Yep, you're in a bad mood alright, you know he only does that because he's concerned about you."
Hearing that, Zephyr couldn't keep a scowl off his face any longer and bit back unpleasantly;
"About me? Or about the image of the family?"
"Both. Just because he has to take your status as heir into account doesn't mean he doesn't care about your feelings."
"Well, it certainly doesn't seem that way to me! And why do I have to be the heir anyway!? I don't even want the position! Someone like you would be a much better choice!"
"Shush, don't let grandfather hear you say that, do you want to get lectured again?" Though she said that, knowing their grandfather he was hearing their entire conversation anyway. Suddenly, a smirk spread across her face and she grabbed Zephyr's hand, pulling him to another section of the manor.
"I know just the thing to help you blow off some steam, let's have an early training session today!"
In one of several raining rooms that dotted the Allorim compound, Zephyr and Helena were having one of their regular torture sessions, or sparring as she liked to call them. Currently, he was huddled down behind one of the many pillars that decorated the room, trying not to get hit by the seemingly never-ending barrage of spells that came his way. The training rooms contained a plethora of objects such as pillars and barriers to be used as cover, and every time he was in one, he could only be thankful for whoever had thought of it.
"Cmon Zeph, are you going to hide there all day or what?"
"Yeah, I think I might just do that."
"I'm even being nice and only using basic spells, but fine, if you won't come to me, I'll come to you."
That wasn't good, she was getting impatient, which meant he was just about out of time. He had two options; the first was to wait for her to reach him, at which point she would inevitably blast him with some sort of spell. The second was to come out of hiding and fight head on, at which point she would inevitably blast him with some sort of spell. Given that both options ended badly for him, he figured he might as well take the second.
Taking a deep breath to prepare himself, he shot out from behind the pillar to the side, energy already gathering and forming a fireball in his palm, before he could do anything with it tough, he was forced to duck down, narrowly avoiding a burst of electricity that flew over his head.
"Tsk, why is it always the lightning?" Looking forward, Helena was slowly walking towards him with an evil smile on her lips. He had to act, and fast too.
Jumping to his feet he swung his arm forward, sending an arc of flame towards her in a straight line, but as the flames reached her, she simply raised her hand and batted them aside, treating them like nothing more than a minor annoyance.
"Cmon Zeph, I know you can do better."
Zephyr gritted his teeth in frustration, it was like this every time, he couldn't fight her head on and he couldn't hide from her, so what was he supposed to do? Well, whatever it was, he had to do fast because she was getting closer and closer, and when she reached him that would be it.
Suddenly, he had an idea, something he had seen done on television, he wasn't sure exactly how it worked, but he figured a failed attempt was better than no attempt. Gathering energy in his palm, he formed a ball of flames just like the one before, but this time in his other he focused creating a swirling torrent of air, he heard a gasp come from Helena but he paid it no mind. Focusing fully on the task in front of him, he started to bring his hand together, but before the two spells could meet, he felt the wind get knocked out of him as Helena tackled him to the ground.
"ARE YOU CRAZY!?"
Zephyr was shocked, by the expression on her face it was pretty obviously Helena was mad at him, but he had no idea why.
"Do you have any idea how dangerous what you just tried to do is!? Attempting to mix two spells, let alone two spell types without fully understanding the formulas behind them can have catastrophic effects! Didn't they teach you that in magic theory!? You could've blown your arms off!"
Zephyr turned green hearing that, he really hadn't had any idea it was that dangerous, lucky thing someone had been there rather than him trying it on his own, blowing his arms off was far from how he wanted to end the day.
"Sorry...guess I should've paid more attention in theory class after all."
Easing up off him slightly, Helena let out a sigh.
"At least you understand, but there was so much else that you did wrong, your actions are too telegraphed; you only ever try to fight head on, and the way you fight is too flashy, no opponent worth their salt will go down to you like that."
"Yeah I get it, less flash more substance, can you get off me now?"
Rather than do as he asked, the same evil grin from before came to Helena's face, she brought her hand forward and lightning crackled across her fingertips inches from Zephyr's face.
"Oh but little cousin, the fight isn't over yet."
"OH COME ON!"
Zephyr was mad, very mad. For the second time in one day he had been shocked, only the second time had hurt a lot more than the first. Adding that to the chewing out he'd gotten by his grandfather and the fact that his two best friends had ditched him to go play laser tag, you could say he wasn't having the best day. That was why as he sat at the dining table with Helena, waiting for their grandfather to join them, he wore a frown so deeply entrenched on his face that Helena was concerned it may become permanent.
"Don't be like that Zeph, today wasn't that bad."
"…"
"I saw what we're having for dinner today, it's barbequed pork chops, you love that."
"…"
"How can you be this sour when the phoenix festival is only one week away?"
Zephyr visibly perked up at that, the phoenix festival was his favourite event of the year, and the main reason anyone came to Heon at that time of year. The festival was one of the oldest traditions on the continent, spanning back over a millennium to when the city was first founded, it was essentially a day-long city-wide party held to celebrate and show appreciation for the presence of the immortal phoenix in the city, there was every kind of food and activity you could imagine, and just thinking about it was enough to make him feel giddy.
"Your father is out of town and Markus is at a friend's house so it will be only us three tonight."
Zephyr was broken from his daydreaming as his grandfather entered the dining room, servants carrying various dishes following behind him.
"Zephyr, I heard about what you attempted during your sparring session earlier."
As their grandfather sat down at the table, Zephyr shot an angry look towards Helena, to which she responded only with an apologetic look of her own.
"Now now, I'm not going to scold you."
That was music to Zephyr's ears, the last thing he wanted today was ANOTHER lecture. He would have thought for sure Malakus would be upset, but if he wasn't then why argue?
"If anything, I'm happy to see that you're willing to learn and experiment with magic, but you cannot forget, magic is not a toy, nor is it simply a tool for making life easier, it is a weapon, a very potent one, which if wielded the wrong way can do significant damage to its user." Ok, it seemed he was getting the lecture anyway.
"At your level you aren't prepared for things such as spell fusion, something even Helena has only recently started learning. All I ask is that you show these techniques the proper respect they deserve, understood?"
"Yes grandfather." As the servants set the table Zephyr let out a breath he had been unconsciously holding since his grandfather had mentioned the incident, he had still gotten a lecture of sorts, but at least he wasn't in trouble.
"Now enough about that, I trust you are both looking forward to the festival, though you must not forget your roles on the day."
Zephyr and Helena both rolled their eyes, how could they, it was something they'd had to perform every single year. As the youngest of the Allorim dynasty, they would be paraded around for much of the day, like a trophy to be shown off. Zephyr couldn't help chuckling under his breath however, he may have to stick by his father during the day, but the night would be his.
As the three continued to chat about all manner of topics while enjoying dinner, the festival remained in the background of Zephyr's mind, he couldn't shake the excitement that he felt every year at this time, but that excitement would have been completely stomped out had he known what was coming, an event that would change the course of not only his life, but everyone he held dear, the beginning of a chain of events that would change the world forever.