Chapter 3: Secrets Revealed

I looked behind me, and there was my mother. "Hi, mom!" I pretended to be excited, however, it was too soon. She couldn't be back now, her warp ticket for home was scheduled for next week! I decided to be wary, just in case anything happened. "Jase, can you bring mom up to her room?" Deliah asked. /Yeah right, she can find her own room./ I didn't say that though. Instead, I said "Sure." I brought my may-not-be-my-mother mother, up to her room, and helped her settle in. "Sweetie, could you help me unpack all my stuff?" My may-not-be-my-mother mother asked. "Of course." I helped her unpack. I grabbed a vial out of her case to put it away. "Don't touch that!" She quickly said. I knew something was up. I handed the vial to her, and she put it inside a lockbox, which I guess she must have gotten from her trip wherever. "Where's dad?" I asked. She looked uncomfortable and just took my hand and dragged me downstairs. "I have something to tell you guys." She said. "Your father, and I, were on a trip..." "Spit it out!" I exclaimed. Deliah quickly slapped my hand to get me to shut up. "And your father and I got in an accident." My mom stopped for a second as if trying to be dramatic. "And he didn't make it out." She finished. I knew something was wrong. You see, an unspoken rule, is that when a husband or wife dies, the other must wear black clothes, to represent that they are in mourning. However, my may-not-be-my-mother was in casual clothes, not black mourning clothes. I found this really suspicious. I told everyone I had to excuse myself and ran upstairs. I went to the little bowl in my room that I use as a fireplace. I put a long burning stick on it, put some wood shavings, and lit it on fire after a few attempts. I peeked out of my bedroom door, and saw that my sister and my mom were talking. I quietly tiptoed to my may-not-be-my-mother's room, and entered. I went to the lockbox and looked at it. It was a mana infusion lockbox, which meant I would have to get my hands on a bottle of my mom's mana. I ran into my room and took out a set of jars that contained my mom's mana, so If these unlocked the box, that meant she was my real mom. If they didn't, who knows who she could be? I looked out the door to make sure the coast was clear, and then I tiptoed to her room, and went to the safe. I poured the mana into the funnel, but then the box had a flashing red light on the side. It was alerting my now-definitely-not-my-mom! I rushed back to my room and went to the bed. I started practicing some fire magic, and when my not-mom entered the room I pretended that nothing had happened. "Did you touch my lockbox?" My not-mom asked. "No." I replied. It technically was true, I hadn't touched it, I had only poured the mana on it. I quickly resumed practicing my fire magic, until I fell asleep. I woke up, and the sun was rising, just on the horizon. I got out of bed and went downstairs, grabbing the light trays and eight-pence. Just as I was about to leave, my not-mom walked in. "Where are you going? Sneaking out to play with your friends?" That instantly confirmed everything. My real mom knew that every morning I would go out to the market to sell light orbs. "I'm going out to the market to sell light orbs. I do this every morning. You should know this." I replied. my not-mom froze for a second, and then stammered out a reply "Oh, ummm I forgot..." I gave her a weird look and rushed out the door to the market. I managed to make it there on time to get a stall, and paid six pence for it. I put all the yellow light orbs to my left, and put all of the freshly made white light orbs to my right. I quickly made sure everything was in position, then saw that a person was selling signs. I paid him one pence, and then hung up the sign on my stall. As the sun rose higher, the market opened and people came flooding in. "Buy your light orbs! Buy your light orbs! Yellow for two pence, and White for three!" I started to sell some, and through some conversation, I found out that Duke Patton was going to the market today. That explained why it was so busy. I sold plenty of light orbs, until about three, when I noticed the duke was coming my way! "Hey there! I see you have white light orbs now. How much for them?" The Duke asked. I was flabbergastered. He remembered me? "Three pence." I replied. "Here you go." He handed me a shwarmph, which was three crowns, and took four light orbs. "Keep the change." He told me. He walked off and started buying from other merchants. I was still so shocked that I didn't notice the customer in front of me until he tapped me on the shoulder. "How much are the yellow ones?

He asked. "Two pence" He paid and swiftly left. This continued until I ran out of light orbs. I packed up even though it was still early, only around four, and headed home. I put some of the money in my savings jar, and the rest in Deliah's purse. I grabbed two pence and headed out to the magic place. That is what I had resorted to calling it. since I didn't know the name of it. I walked towards it slowly, enjoying the weather while it lasted. Once I was there, I went in and noticed a payment bowl. I placed the coins in the bowl and heard Ms. Roxanne coming. "Hello again!" She walked towards me, looking quite cheery. "I see you have come back for another lesson?" She asked. "Yes. Yes, I have." I replied. I followed her to the room from last time, and sat down at the table. She set up some kindling and long burning sticks. "Please light this, will you?" She asked. I managed to light it on my first try, and was surprised with myself. Were these lessons actually working? "Very good, can you pick up the fire?" She asked me. I started, and after about two minutes, I was able to get it an inch above the fire. "Good. Now start pushing it forward, or backward." She told me. I practiced this with her for the rest of the evening. With her giving me tips and tricks, on how to do It better. She even showed me, which was absolutely stunning! I practiced for a long time, probably around four hours. I was getting so much better, so fast, even Ms. Roxanne was amazed! However, since the sun was starting to set, I told her I had to go home, said goodbye, and walked home. When I reached home, I forgot that my not-mom was there, so I was surprised when I saw three plates. I then remembered that my not-mom was here, so I sat down at the table, and waited for everyone to come sit and eat. Soon, everyone was at the table, so we started eating. "How was your day?" I asked my not-mom. "It was good." She replied. "What did you do?" I asked. "Not much." She replied. This continued for a while, me trying to get more information out of her, but her being vague. I eventually gave up and just continued eating. After a while, dinner ended, and I helped my sister clean up all the dishes on the counter. I went outside, and went to the water pump and pumped a bucket of water out. My sister came outside with the dishes, and we both started scrubbing away. "Hey, do you find it odd that Mom isn't helping us?" Deliah asked. "Yes, I think it is kind of weird." I replied. My sister seemed to be thinking a lot while we scrubbed the plates and the pot, so I refrained from talking for a while. When we brought all the dishes in, I placed them on the counter one by one, while my sister used light magic to slowly heat up the water and make it evaporate. I set all the dishes in the cabinet, and wiped away any remaining water with the washcloth. I pushed in all the seats, and headed upstairs. Once I put the long burning sicks, and some wood shavings in a bowl I used as a mini fireplace, I lit it on fire, and once again, I was able to do it on the first try! I snuggled into bed, and my sister wasn't there to tuck me in because she was fully drained of her energy, so she instantly went to bed and fell asleep. I soon slowly drifted to sleep, and everything seemed so peaceful. All of a sudden, in the middle of the night, I heard incanting, seeming to come from the room next to mine.

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