Lupin
Lucia took her hand off her creation and brought it to rest by her side, while the creation remained floating in place
"Very impressive" Luke praised, as he stared at the flowers and water creations floating in the air. "I honestly wasn't expecting you to get it on your first try" he said and a smug look appeared on Lucia's face
"However, Luce was only able to create that with the gap you opened for her" Marcia said and Luke stared at her blankly, "What? Why are you looking are me like that?" she asked
"It's true. I overlooked it, but...I never knew that you'd point it out" Luke said, and Marcia felt a vein pop as he quickly ignored her and turned his attention to Lucia "Make that thing disappear and sit up straight. I'm going to close the gap and then you can try again" he said
"Um....how do I make it disappear?" Lucia asked
"You just have to imagine it disappearing without a trace" Marcia said "Those water creatures and the water that surround the flowers you created, are a source of life, but they aren't living. If you just stop thinking about keeping that source of life available, it will naturally disappear by itself. However, if you want it to remain available even if you cut your control from it, you simply have to think of cutting off the flow of mana between you and your creation" she said "Typically speaking, hearts and spirits have the deities' powers of creation and destruction....some hearts and spirits, more than others. However, there's a limit to this power. Although the things we can create are both alive and inanimate, the inanimate things we can create, are unlimited. Whereas, creating something that is alive, is limited to only plants, animals and monsters. We can't create people who are alive, however, making illusions of them as an inanimate thing, is possible"
"To elaborate, things like the water creations you created, disappear when you stop pouring mana into it, and lack the wish for it to remain available even after that" Luke said "However, things like those flowers you created, have to go through a different process because they're alive"
"A different process?" Lucia repeated, as she turned her body to look at him "What do you mean? Isn't it the same process?"
"When you created the water creatures, you only thought of animals and insects in the form of water. However, if you had thought further..." Luke started as he packed some dirt in his right hand
Luke clenched the dirt tightly while his eyes began to glow and he lifted his hand towards the sky "...if you had thought, 'I want this to become alive', you would have created something alive" he said as he opened his hand, and three birds took off from it "What you created would have been born with a bit of your mana and a bit of your life force. For hearts and spirits, these things are unlimited, so giving a bit for the sake of creating something alive, is not impossible, but a mere task"
"Wow" Lucia mumbled, as she stared at the sky
"But....how do you make such a thing disappear?" Luke asked "Whatever you created as alive, will be born with its own mana and life force which it had collected from you at the time of its creation. This means that it becomes its own living thing, just like the other living things you didn't create. It'll grow, feed, sleep, mate, parent....and die"
Luke called one of the birds back
"However, the only difference between it and other living creations, is the fact that it was created by you. It was created from your life force and your mana which means, you can control it" Luke said, with very cold eyes, but before the bird could even reach within a metre of his hand, he immediately clenched his fist and the bird's corpse dropped to the ground "Just imagine connecting your mana and life force with the ones you gave to your creation. Then imagine taking all of it back" he said, before dropping his hand by his side, while Lucia stared at the dead bird on the ground "That is how you make an alive creation that you created, disappear. By taking away its life force and mana, all that will be left of that alive creation, is its dead corpse" he added
"The funny thing about this, is the fact that we can give life back to the creation of whose life we've already taken" Marcia said and with the wiggle of her left index finger, the ground opened up and swallowed the bird's corpse before reverting back to normal
"People.... find creation of living things and manipulation of dead things, as almost impossible" Luke said "Unless they can control the mana in their surroundings, the cost of creating even a small butterfly, will come at the cost of some of their mana and their life force. Although with magic, people tend to live longer, a person using the power of living creation or those using the power of the dead creation, will have their lifespans shortened each time they use it. While those using healing magic, have a limit to the number of people they can heal, as well as the severity of the wounds they can heal"
"The saying, 'Magic comes at a price', especially applies to the type of people who either use pure white magic or pure black magic" Marcia said "But with hearts, we only need to be mindful of the rules of the hearts, when using magic. Those rules are our limitations, while for spirits, their limitation is the fact that they can only do about a thirds quarter of what a heart can do" she stared at Lucia "So, why don't you give it a try?"
"Sure. I'll give it a try" Lucia said as she turned to her creation and stretched her hand towards it. She first imagined the water creations becoming nothing and they bursted into small light particles. "I did it" she said
"You're not done yet" Luke said blankly as he pointed at the flowers
Lucia stared at the flowers and sighed as she imagined taking back the life force and mana she had given to them. The flowers immediately dried up and fell to the ground before being followed by their dried up stems.
Lucia lowered her hand as she picked up one of the dried up stems and stared at it with a saddened expression
'So this is the ferocious power of a heart' she thought 'How easy it is to give away and take away life' she suddenly flinched when she felt Luke's hand on her bare back
"Is my hand still cold?" Luke asked
"No...not at all. I was just surprised" Lucia said as she dropped the stem
"Surprised? Were you thinking about something?" Marcia asked
"Actually...yes, I was" Lucia said
"What an improvement. Marcia and I couldn't read your thoughts this time" Luke said, before immediately changing the topic "I'm going to close the gap. Are you ready?"
"I am" Lucia said, and Luke started using all his power to suppress the gold energy that was escaping Lucia's body
'As always, shutting it is far more difficult than opening it' Luke thought as he finally managed to close the gap "Done. Do you feel any different?" he asked
Lucia thought for a while before shaking her head, "I still feel the same as when you opened up this so called, 'gap'" she said "It doesn't even feel like you ever shut it"
"Same here. The feeling is still the same" Marcia said
"Even I can tell. It seems like you still have control...at least for now" Luke said "Can you still use magic?" he asked as he took his hand off her back
"I think so. I'll give it a try" Lucia said as she tried to control her mana. "Ah" she let out as she immediately took to her feet and started running away from Luke and Marcia
"Hey. Where do you think you're going?" Luke asked with a frown and Lucia stopped as she clasped her hands
As soon as Lucia threw her unclasped hands in the air, several purple and blue butterflies took off and she smiled, "It seems like I can still use magic" she said as she turned to Luke "And it's permanent"
'Like I thought, she's truly something, to have completely adapted to the seal' Yukia thought as she jotted her findings on a small notebook
Lucia spun around and the dirt ground below her feet, was covered in grasses and different types of flowers. Throwing one hand up, a stream of water spiraled around her, as it moved up from the ground, to the sky. Bringing that same hand down, the water dispersed and turned into bubbles which seemed to be falling down from the sky.
"At least...this confirms that she has a creative mind" Luke said
"Shouldn't we stop her?" Marcia asked while standing next to him and Luke stood up from the ground
"There's no need....but if you want, you can go stop her" Luke said and at that exact moment, Lucia's body suddenly landed on the ground below her feet
"Ahh!!!Lucia!!!" Marcia shouted "Are you okay?!!!" she asked in a hysterical manner
"I'm okay, Aunt Marcia" Lucia said as she laid on her side "Just a little....tired" she let out before succumbing to sleep
"You see...I told you not to bother" Luke said as he approached Lucia, while Marcia followed behind him
"You knew this was going to happen?" Marcia asked hysterically
"I've known for quite some time. It was expected since, she hasn't used magic in fifteen years...and she's already fourteen" Luke said as he squat down to pluck one of the flowers Lucia created, before standing straight "The amount of mana she amassed was too much for her to handle. She needed a way to release it" he faced Marcia
"So she needed a break" Marcia murmured at she lowered her head and Luke held her chin before raising her head up to look at his face. "W-what are you doing?" she asked with a blush and Luke tucked the flower behind her ear
"It surprisingly suits you" Luke said, before turning away from her and standing beside Lucia's head. He let out a sigh and laid on the ground
"Lu-Lu?" Marcia called out
"Sorry. I've used too much magic, so I'm a bit tired" Luke said
"Then, you should head inside and sleep on a bed" Marcia scolded and Luke glanced at her as his eyes stopped glowing
"The wind outside is nice" Luke said briefly as he shut his eyes, leaving Marcia stupefied
For as long as she had known Luke, not once had she understood any of his thoughts or actions. However, even at that, Luke was still the major reason why she had never sealed away her heart despite her rough past, which was why she didn't mind not knowing and just wanted to be by his side.
Marcia stared at him a little while longer, before laying down next to him. She reached behind her ear and pulled out the flower Luke had tucked in before. It was a pink lily of the valley flower.
'Another flower?' Marcia wondered as she touched the gold, hibiscus hair combs in her hair, 'What do hibiscuses and lily of the valleys, symbolise for him to give me these flowers?' She wondered before pushing it aside 'It doesn't matter what it symbolises. Lu-Lu gave me, so I'm happy either way' she thought as she brought the flower close to her chest and smiled sheepishly
Unknown to the three, Yukia was watching their happy family moment in silence
"Maybe I should head back for now" Yukia mumbled as she let out a small whistle and a yellow hummingbird appeared beside her
"Keep an eye on them and report to me when necessary" Yukia said and the hummingbird took off. Yukia surrounded herself in oxblood light before disappearing.
....
It's best to lookup online for the floral meanings of each flower Luke gave Marcia, because I'm not going to give the meanings here. It'll ruin the story and I'm not the type to spoil
Anyways, thanks for reading. I hope to see you in the next chapter, so don't forget to vote, comment, and you can follow me on Instagram @nickyfresh607
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