20 Apr 2025

Hard Work by Anna Andriychuk

Once upon a time, somewhere in a land far,

far away there stood a wondrous Kingdom – a place filled with many secrets and the most coveted power of them all – magic.

The gift of magic never spared the ones residing in that Kingdom, though it was by no means one to be called truly fair. Why? For magic did not choose its holders equally – it listened more to a select few’s whispers than it did all the others’.

And there were two people in that world who knew it better than all else. A pair of twins, an older brother and a younger sister just minutes apart. Clyde, a promising young mage, the one whose word alone would be enough to let the magic listen to his every whim, and Lucia – the one who screamed and yelled and begged for it to simply hear her pleas.

“Maybe you should quit trying to become a mage,” her brother once told her with a snicker.

Lucia remembered that day vividly, would do so until the very day she died. Alone in her room, on a floor with a book, surrounded by countless papers haphazardly thrown around, she studied. Her notes a jumbled mess, filled with symbols, circles, and other crossed-out calculations, with many mistakes for nosy eyes to see.

As she failed to perform the spell, crossing out yet another faulty equation, Lucia heard a knock. It was clearly Clyde, with how he entered before she even had the chance to respond. He looked around her room with a scoff, his eyes landing on the page of a spell book.

“Hey, didn’t I tell you to wait before-!” but Lucia did not have time to properly respond. Because Clyde had already managed to conjure up a spell. The sphere of light she so desperately tried to create. It has now shown more brightly than it had ever done in the hands that were not here own.

“And you’re stuck on something as easy and silly as this?” he chuckled, playing with the intensity, mocking her. “If you can’t perform even this measly spell…” Clyde hummed, looking down at her from above, “Then-”

Everything after was a blur. She remembered screams, a fight, torn pages and bruises. But those words. They stuck to her like a sore thumb. Even the sweet comforting words of her mother fell on deaf ears.

“Sweety,” her mother held her tight, enveloping her in a warm and safe embrace, “you don’t-”

“No,” Lucia mumbled as she sniffled, wiping her flowing tears away, “I will not stop. Never. I-I’ll show him! I’ll become just as good as he is! No, I’ll become even better!”

The siblings didn’t talk much after that. Not that Lucia had much time to anyway. Every spare moment of her life she studied, armed with a promise in her heart, a desire to succeed and become who she always wanted to be.

And the easiest way to do so? Enter the prestigious Academy. But it was by no means easy: difficult test, numerous challenges and a strict selection for very few students to pass. Lucia’s only hope? To win the tuition to study free of charge. Something only a measly top 20 ever get to achieve every year.

As she stood before the announcement board, here fingers trembling profusely, her palms sweaty and cold, she hesitantly glanced at the ranking of the entrance exam. Their family name was not in the later 20-ies. But she still held hope. That tiny radiant glimmer of-!

She saw it.

Her brother’s name… Right under number 6.

The longer she stared at it, the more that glimmer dwindled, faltered the same way it did all those years ago in her room. Her brother’s words rang in her ears once again, feeling more true than they ever did in those 10 years of tedious struggle. Maybe she truly could never become a mage. Maybe it was all for nothing. Maybe-

“Ah, if it isn’t Miss Graves,” an examinator’s words suddenly rang in her ears, shocking Lucia from her stupor. “Congratulations, my dear, with your enrolment.”

Sweet words that could’ve sounded great just moments before, but the ones that now cut deep like a well-sharpened knife. So at the very least she passed.

“Thank you, ma’am,” she bowed politely, holding in her tears - even if she failed, she wanted to accept her defeat with dignity. “But I fear I would not be able to attend. The cost may be too much for us to bear.”

“What cost?” The examinator wandered, looking at her in confusion before turning to the paper on the board. She walked closer, pointing to something on it, urging Lucia to come see: “I believe that someone in 3rd place is more than qualified to attend this Academy for free, Miss Graves.”

“W-What?!” Lucia stumbled closer, enough to see her name blatantly written under number 3. Why did she never check further? Was her belief in her brother’s superior abilities that strong of a deterrent? “B-but how? My brother-!”

“Mister Graves? Oh, yes, he has quite the talent. More than many here,” her eyes wandered leisurely around the room. “But talent alone is only enough to get you that far, Miss Graves. Hard work is the one that truly allows it to blossom. Or the one that can even substitute it. Just as yours has done,” she offered Lucia a smile. “Congratulations again, dear. I hope to see you this Autumn.”

And thus Lucia was left alone to gawk at her name.

Or so she thought.

“Hey,” her brother called her, standing by her side. For the first time – not in front. “Let’s meet at the top. Deal?”

She looked at the hand outstretched towards her. A sign of peace. Acknowledgment. A desire to compete as equals.

How could she refuse?

“Deal.”

One day the two would become great mages, unrivalled to many.

But that is a story for another time.

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