I opened the door, let out a sigh of defeat, dropped my backpack carelessly on the floor, fell onto my bed, and screamed into my pillow at the annoying mystery I had in front of me. How could I have detected magic for an instant from one of the two children then discover neither had even a hint of magical talent coursing through their veins? I was trained properly in the detection of magic even before I gained any of my abilities in my home world, so even if for some reason this new body of mine never was blessed with the gift of magic, I should still be able to identify it. I squeezed my pillow in frustration hard enough that my hands began to ache, causing me to direct my anger at my weak body.
"Gods damn this body for being so fucking weak!" I screamed, no longer having my face buried in my pillow, and slapped my face as hard as I could, causing an intense burning sensation on the right side of my face. I stared at the blurry floor as tears welled up in my eyes and streamed down my face as I wept softly, rubbing at my eyes. Gods, please let me get my magic back, I thought while trying not to be too loud with my sniffling, not wanting anyone to witness my weak moment. I heard my door begin to creak open and quickly got off the bed and faced away from the door, holding back my tears, trying not to make another noise.
"Son, are you alright?" I heard my new father whisper gently, like he was speaking to a feral animal trying not to spook it. I shook my head up and down slightly, not wanting to say a word in fear my voice would crack. "Son, look at me." I shook my head no, not wanting him to see the shameful act of my crying, and he closed the distance between us without me realizing it and turned me around gently with his giant hands.
His face was level with mine, and when I looked into his eyes, I did not see shame on his face; I saw empathy, something I had only seen a handful of times from others that were never directed towards me. Anger boiled in my veins, knowing that his empathy must be fake, and I balled up my fists, ready to strike him in the face, but before I could do so, he did something I would have never expected from anyone, even from this man. He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a soft, gentle hug and patted my back. I wept into his shoulder, no longer caring if he saw my weakness, and let the sorrow flow out of my eyes until I had no more tears to shed.
Crying for an extended period tends to drain the energy of one's body. That is why I wasn't too surprised to find that I had passed out in the middle of my crying session and had woken up on the couch next to my father, who was watching TV. I looked out the window nearest to me and saw the sun was close to setting, meaning I had been asleep for the better part of two or three hours. My eyes turned towards the TV and watched a man in a white outfit with glasses talk about things called particles and how they make up the new world I was in. I watched him list the things that made up the world like electrons, neutrons, and protons, which made me have an insane theory. What if magic did not start in the bodies of creatures in this world, but rather the opposite was true and the magic began in the air, the water, the earth, and all other sorts of places? I sat up slowly, contemplating that possibility, and my dad rested his hand on my shoulder. My dad? When did I start to think of him as my real father? I looked up to the man that I began to consider as my real father and not as my new father and saw him giving me a warm smile. He pressed something on the remote, causing the world on the TV to freeze.
"Son, is someone bullying you at school?" he said with a serious note to his voice. "You can tell me and I will speak to your teachers about it."
"No, no one is bullying me," I said with sincerity in my voice.
"Then how did you get that red mark on your face?" he said in a not-so-convinced voice.
"Oh," I said, touching my still-tender cheek. "I did this to myself."
He gave a look that said "I don't believe you" and he pressed another button on the remote, making the world on the TV move again right where it had left off.
Later in the night, after my parents got done tucking me into bed, which still embarrasses me and weirds me out a little, I waited until I could no longer hear them talking in the other room and then got out of bed and sat on my bedroom floor and closed my eyes and felt with my senses. This was a whole new territory for me, considering I was used to feeling out specific objects or creatures for magic. Now I was trying to expand my senses to detect magic anywhere around me. For several moments, I felt nothing, and slowly I felt my hope draining again, but suddenly I felt the slightest flicker of energy. I concentrated harder, clearing my mind, ignoring the sounds of the wind and the settling house, and began to feel more tiny sparks of energy throughout the air. The sparks were so tiny that even losing a fraction of my concentration made the sparks invisible to my senses. I felt a smile creep onto my face when I realized there were not just a couple of these small sparks of magic; there was an ocean of it waiting to be harnessed all around me. My eyes opened slowly and my grin became a smile so large that it hurt my sore cheek. I found magic.