The Fateful Heart

There was still a lot about Nye that Evaline didn't understand, but listening to James talk made her realize that that there were some uncanny similarities between Nye before the calamity and Earth now. If he had replaced the word magic with powers, she might have thought he was referencing Earth.

It was an interesting thought.

"Did people with and without magic live peacefully together?" she asked.

"They used to," James said. "From what little I know."

Evaline hummed over this.

"So, what happened? You've said that people started blaming mages for the calamity, but was it a gradual change?"

"It's hard to say. What they teach in school only really tells half the picture, and it's only the picture they want you to see. I think there was some underlying tension between those with and without magic, and the calamity was a catalyst for all of that hate to rise to the surface.

"You sure know a lot about this," she said.

Although, compared to the very little she knew about Nye, James seemed to know a lot about everything.

"Is this your favorite history topic?"

James was quiet for a moment as he worked one side of the braid to the other, caught in thought.

"Favorite wouldn't be the word I'd use..."

He checked both sides of her head, just to be sure it looked good.

"But I guess you could say I really care about it."

"I can tell," she said, feeling the edge of her mouth rise, just a little. "But if that's not your favorite topic, then what is?"

"Well..."

James's fingers hesitated for a second in the braid, before he continued.

"It's something that's really hard to find information about, actually. Because it's outlawed. But I've always found magic itself very fascinating. Its many uses. How it works. What it looks like."

Evaline squinted her eyes out into the field. She has been with James for over a month now, and she hadn't learned much about magic besides that it was outlawed and there were various types. She didn't think there was much more depth than it being explainable forces, but if James was so interested in this topic, maybe she was wrong.

"Well, I hope you're ready to enlighten me," she said. "How does magic work here?"

"It's hard to say for sure, since I've never had magic myself -" James started. "But from what I understand, it's much like any other skill. It has to be worked and exercised, like a muscle. The magic comes from inside you, but historically, even the most talented and promising mages had to first master various forms of meditation to truly channel it intentionally and to control it. They still might be able to use their magic when under great pressure, but it could potentially be volatile and dangerous, depending on the nature of the magic."

"A lot of people learned they had magic because of emotional triggers - not always negative ones, though. But because magic was so ingrained into society, families whose parents had magic would often encourage their children to try and discover what elements they had control over in a more controlled, safe environment. I think there were schools - those might've just been the guilds, though. It's hard to say. But, emotions did play a part in strengthening people's magic, I think. But it's not dictated by it. I think it's comparable to an adrenaline rush, maybe. If you've trained and practiced enough, the things you need to do will just come when the adrenaline hits. In the same way, if you train enough and know how to channel your energy, you'll know what to do when stronger emotions rise."

He paused when he reached the end of the braid.

"Ah. I need a tie."

Evaline listened quietly, unwrapping the new ribbon she tied around her wrist before passing it over her shoulder to James. It was a bright blue color. Like her eyes, Olivia reasoned.

It was interesting to hear how magic worked. It clearly was a lot more complex than she thought. She knew how her power worked, but his level-of-detail on how magic worked made her wonder if that was how people with other powers operated. Did they have to have an emotional connection too? She never thought to ask. She just assumed emotions were only for mind-related powers, like hers.

"It's interesting to hear that magic is tied to emotions," she mused out loud. "So, if a mage had little control of their emotions, they'd have little control of their magic?"

“That’s not something I can really answer for sure, but hypothetically, yes. But mages didn’t believe you had to be an emotionless husk to be a good mage. I think it was more about channeling those emotions and energy in a positive way... or, just a way that works with your type of magic. Like how some people fight to get our their anger. Not that I condone it, but I’m sure there’s people who did that with their magic too. It seems sad to make something lile anger the sole source of your magic, but I know it can be a powerful motivator.”

Evaline stayed silent without a response, knowing that James was almost done as he was tying her hair.

James realized he missed the ribbon she’d been holding while he explained, and he finally took it.

“Did you get this in town too?” he asked, starting to tie the braid off into a nice bow.

He finally took the ribbon, and she set her hand back on her lap.

"I did," Evaline said after a brief pause. "Figured it was about time I stop using rags."