“How’s your homework coming?”

Ares groaned as he passed by the kitchen. His mom was watching him expectantly. He shrugged, not looking directly at her.

“Well, promise me you’ll work on it more today,” his mother said. “Summer’s not going to last forever.”

“I will, Vega,” he replied, before walking away.

As soon as he got into the kitchen, Ares noticed that the large window with no curtains was an opaque blue. He walked around the long table that sat twelve and rang a little bell that hung next to the window frame. The window became transparent again, letting in the morning light.

Ares sat down in his favorite chair, facing the window and also right in front of the middle of three vases of clashing flowers that lined the table. Each chair was handcrafted and felt a little bit different, and everyone had their favorite. Right behind Ares was a six foot wide piece of clockwork art that was always moving, ticking and whirring and clicking incessantly. Ares glanced at the little digital clock hanging next to it on the wall. It was breakfast time; where was everyone?

Eris, Ares’ fifteen-year-old twin sister, was the first person to enter the room, also still in her pajamas. She sat down right next to Ares and mumbled a hello. Before long, Hestia had walked in, already fully dressed. Tia, the eldest sister at seventeen, gave them a curt hello and sat down a short ways away. Finally, ten-year-old Pandora meandered in and sat down in the tallest seat, yawning and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

“How is everyone?” Ares asked.

He got a mixture of mumbled replies in return.

“You know… I feel like meals are the only time we ever see each other anymore,” he lamented.

“I’m sorry,” Tia said, “but with my alchemy certification coming up, I’m spending all my time studying.”

“Yeah, sorry, bro,” Eris added. “I didn’t realize how much time my independent study would take up.”

Eris was studying mind-altering magic. Once she was out of school, she wanted to help search for an immunity to it. Since it wasn’t something covered in-depth in the curriculum, Eris had taken it upon herself to learn more.

Finally, Vega entered with a large serving dish filled with her breakfast casserole. Everybody picked up a plate and grabbed some. Vega took her place at the head of the table. As he ate, Ares tried to quash the feeling that something was out of place. It always came to him whenever the family was in a group like this.

“I’m sorry I’m late, everyone,” came a new voice.

Ares turned to see Lorrie, his other mom, enter the room. She was still dressed in her clothes from the day before and her hair was all frazzled. It had evidently been another all-nighter for her. Lorrie worked as an enchanter and made most of the family’s income, while Vega, who came from a more traditional witch family, made money on the side helping out the nearby town with their myriad problems. Lorrie took a plate and took her seat at the far end of the table. The whole family was about evenly spread out.

But now that everyone was here, Ares couldn’t ignore the nagging feeling that he was out of place. It had to be because he was the only boy in a family of girls, right? Nothing else made sense. But then why was he only feeling this now and not growing up? Sure, when Dora had been born, he’d been disappointed that he didn’t have a brother like he’d wanted, but there was still nearly another ten years before he started to feel left out.

And it’s not like he could stop being a boy. It was hopeless. Ares was never going to fit in. And the worst part was, it wasn’t just over the summers anymore. The feeling had started following Ares around high school just the year before. What was he doing wrong?

“Ares, are you done with the black candles?” Hestia asked. “I really need them back.”

Ares shook off his funk. He could wallow in self-pity later. He almost never got to spend time with his sisters anymore and he was going to enjoy himself.

“Yeah, I’m done. Are you planning a romantic date with Parker over some Pretty Pretty Star Power?”

Pretty Pretty Star Power was a new anime Tia was into. It was skewed for younger children, but Hestia always had a weakness for girls’ anime and everybody in the family had teased her for it at least once. It never failed to make her blush from embarrassment just a little.

“It’s none of your business what we do,” Hestia mumbled.

“That’s not a ‘no,’” Eris said.

Everybody at the table chuckled a bit, and Hestia herself grinned a little. The rest of the meal was full of amicable chatter. Ares could easily pretend that nothing was wrong.

After breakfast, Ares returned to his room. It was a long but not wide bedroom right beneath the attic and right above the utility room. There were posters of soccer players on most walls, except for the one wall filled with pictures of places he wanted to visit: Paris, London, New York, Hong Kong, Rome…

Ares turned on the tall standing lamp next to his bed. He flicked through a few lighting options, settling on a soft warm light that filled up his room. Sitting down at the desk, Ares pushed his tablet out of the way and opened up his laptop.

“Why is there summer homework?” he lamented.

He was going to have to keep an eye on the clock. Ares and his school friends had a dedicated call that they all jumped into when they wanted to talk, usually in the early afternoon. Lunch would have to be a little early today for him to get in there on time. They were going to schedule a day for Mercedes and Finley to come visit in person.

But for now, he had homework. He opened his Illusions textbook to chapter twelve and sighed. Ares had been putting off his Illusions homework until Eris had some time to help him. She was the expert on the subject. Oh well, maybe he’d just have her check his work over.

About an hour into his homework, there was a knock at Ares’ door.

“It’s time for the monthly tribute,” Lorrie said. “Vega has the basket for you downstairs.”

“Thanks, Mom!” Ares called back, getting up and stretching.

Vega was in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on the handmade wicker basket.

“Here you go, son,” she said. “Some sour honey, rare flowers, exotic herbs. Exactly the kind of stuff she enjoys. Make sure it gets to her safely.”

“Will do, Mom.”

He took the basket and slid on his shoes at the front door before heading out into the woods. Soft morning light filtered through the canopy. The air was filled with the sounds of birds and scurrying animals. Ares made his way west, stopping outside a small glade between the trees.

The glade was mostly covered with canopy, with only a small hole in the middle for sunlight to stream through and illuminate a small rock shrine. The space was bordered with small rocks, with a few large gaps for people to walk through. Each entrance was bordered by two small trees that had their branches joined and woven together by magic.

Ares walked up to the small rock shrine and called out, “Amaryllis? I have the tribute!”

There was a soft gust of wind and a voice behind him said, “Hello, Rosebud.”

Turning around, Ares was faced with a young woman with light green skin and roots for hair. Her big eyes were shifting all the colors of the rainbow. She was dressed in foliage woven together with grasses, which Ares knew from past experience was solely for his own benefit.

Ares held out the basket and Amaryllis took it, resting it at her hip. Then she grinned at Ares and gestured for him to sit down. They both sat next to the shrine, with the basket on the ground in front of them.

“I haven’t seen you in a while, Rosebud,” Amaryllis said.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been busy with schoolwork.”

Amaryllis scoffed, “It’s bad enough you’re at that boarding school of yours three seasons of the year. Do they really need more?”

Ares shrugged and replied, “There’s a lot to learn.”

“Rosebud, I could teach you natural magic and you’d never need anything more.”

“You’d do that?”

“If you visited me more often.”

Ares grinned. Amaryllis was on good enough terms with his parents—fortunately, since they lived here only with her permission—but she was only really friends with Ares. After he had started displaying an affinity for Communications magic, his moms had insisted that he be the one to deliver the tribute, since he’d have a stronger relationship with the nymph than they would.

“I’d love to hang out more often,” Ares said, remembering fondly the adventures they would have exploring the forest. “I honestly don’t feel like I belong with my family anymore.”

Amaryllis nodded sagely.

“Why is that?” she asked.

Ares sighed and replied, “I don’t know. I think it’s part of a bigger problem. And I think the problem is me. It feels like there’s something wrong with me and I don’t know what it is, just that I can’t escape it.”

“There’s nothing wrong with you, Rosebud,” Amaryllis insisted, placing a warm hand on Ares’ arm.

“I hope not.” He paused, then stood up. “I’ve got to go. I still have a busy day planned. I’ll try to make time to see you again soon, alright?”

“I look forward to it, Rosebud,” Amaryllis replied, standing and picking up the basket.

Ares nodded and walked over to the edge of the glade. When he glanced behind him, Amaryllis and the basket were already gone. He smiled and began the trek back home.

When he got home, Vega had set out a small sandwich on the counter in the kitchen for Ares. It seemed like everyone was too busy for a full family meal. He took the sandwich and returned to the dining room, taking a seat and beginning his meal.

After lunch, he’d get to talk to his friends again. That would be fun. As Ares started to feel more out of place around the home, getting to spend time with Mercedes, Finley, and the others had become sort of his lifeline. Even if he still felt like something was wrong, it was easier to ignore among friends.

“Hey, honey.”

Ares turned to face Vega, who was standing in the doorway.

She continued, “Remember that it’s your turn to help Dora with her magical training today.”

Ares closed his eyes and sighed.

“Thank you, Mom,” he said. “I’d forgotten.”

Well, that sucked. He was looking forward to the call so much. But Pandora came first. Helping her with her magic was incredibly important. Besides, he wanted to help. She was his younger sister and meant the world to him. And he needed to do something to feel like he was still part of this family.

Ares knocked on the door to Pandora’s room and waited for her to let him in. Dora’s room had multi-colored heart wallpaper that Ares had always kind of envied. Her bed was raised off the floor, with a desk beneath it like you might see in a college dorm room. Racing posters were scattered across the walls and a large race car toy set took up the middle of the room. Ares could even see the life-size python plushie slowly climbing up the bed, an enchanted Christmas present from Lorrie.

“So,” Ares began, sitting down cross-legged on the floor. “What have you been focusing on lately?”

Dora sat down across from Ares and gave him a list of things she’d been working on with the others: herb identification, memorizing ley lines, color correspondence, the basics of enchanting, simple illusions, etc. A wide array of topics, but she’d need to know all of them and more if she wanted to keep up in high school.

“Alright,” Ares said, “do you remember what I said about the importance of meditation?”

“Doing magic requires a heightened state of awareness,” Dora recited. “The easiest way to learn to access this at will is through repeated meditation.”

“That’s right. My method of doing magic is… more intuition-based than Lorrie’s or Hestia’s.” He remembered Hestia trying to teach him when he was younger, and how the technical and mathematical methods they used just did not click with him. “It’s even called the Intuitive Method. When using Communications magic, most of the work is feeling my way to the right answer. It’s slower and a little less stable, but the results are higher quality. And, of course, some magic just responds better to the Intuitive Method while other magic responds better to the Analytic Method.”

Pandora nodded along.

“What kinds?” she asked.

“Well, Communications and Illusion magic, like what me and Eris specialize in, benefit a lot from feeling your way to solutions. Alchemy and Enchanting, because there are numbers and measurements, favor the more stringent Analytic Method.”

“What about Combat Magic?” Dora asked.

“I think most places teach Combat Magic using the Analytic Method, since the effects are more precise that way,” Ares replied. “Each school of magic needs both logic and intuition to pull off, so you’re going to be learning both, but you’ll gravitate toward one or the other.”

“Meditating is hard, though,” Dora whined.

“It is to start with. But once you’ve been doing it for a couple of months, it will feel like second nature. And you’ve got to get good at it if you want to be good at magic. Now come on, let’s practice, just for ten minutes.”

Dora fell silent and closed her eyes. After a moment, she started to slump forward as she relaxed her body. Ares watched. Occasionally, Dora would twitch or shift uncomfortably, but she did seem to be trying. More so than he had at her age, that was for sure.

“Time’s up,” he said softly. “How do you feel?”

Without opening her eyes, Dora sat up straight and replied, “Calm? A little lighter?”

“Good. You need a calm clarity or else your magic will be affected by your emotional state. Now, hold up your hand, palm up.” Dora did so. “Channel your energy into the palm of your hand and focus it into a small ball.” He waited a few moments. “Alright, open your eyes.”

Dora did so, then blinked in surprise at the small marble-sized white ball that had appeared in her hands. It quickly faded away and Dora closed her hand.

“Every time you meditate,” Ares continued, “I want you to end it by drawing your energy into the palm of your hand and trying to create the largest ball of energy that you can.” He held up his hand and quickly summoned a softball-sized white ball of energy to show her. “This basic energy manipulation will be instrumental in shaping your magic later on. Understand?”

Dora nodded.

“Alright,” Ares said, “let’s move on.”

They worked together until dinner, when the whole family got back together in the dining room to eat. Afterward, Ares returned to his room and stretched out on the bed next to his little bunny plushie, the only thing from his young childhood he’d never gotten rid of. He buried his nose in a book on advanced Communications magic, soaking up the information.

This chapter was about communicating with plants. It was more difficult than talking to spirits and animals because plants didn’t think. But they were still spiritual organisms, so Communications magic still worked on them. Being able to demonstrate that he had some control over plants would be a good image for Ares come next year.

“This looks like a simple enough spell,” he muttered, looking over the list of reagents. According to the book, this spell would help encourage plants to flower early. Not very difficult. Ares could try it out tonight.

Ares took a photo of the page with his phone and sat the book down. Most of these things he could find in the kitchen or the alchemy room, maybe even Lorrie’s enchanting chamber. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to go into the basement. After a while, though, it became clear that Ares wasn’t going to find everything on his own.

He peeked into the family room, where Vega was, and asked, “Do we have any black stardew?”

“I think we do in the basement, honey,” Vega replied.

Ares’ heart sank.

“Anywhere else?” he asked weakly.

“Don’t think so. It’s a bit of a rare ingredient. It’s just the basement, dear. You’ll be fine.”

Ares gulped and nodded, then headed for the basement like a condemned man for the gallows. He paused outside the basement door and sent a prayer to the moon above. Opening it just a peep, a gust of musty air blew right into Ares’ face.

The basement was dark. A rusty device hanging near the door generated a small ball of light that hovered right in front of Ares. He took a few steps down and the ball of light followed. The basement itself was stacked floor to ceiling with boxes, crates, chests, and wardrobes filled with nobody knew what. Somehow, Vega and Lorrie and even Tia managed to navigate this room, but Ares had never been able to.

“Where are you, black stardew?” he chanted, opening drawers at random.

He found some small bones in airtight bags, a couple of old wands, a chest full of clockwork pieces, a portable ball of fire, a cabinet full of candles in non-Euclidean shapes, and a bookshelf full of books on magic across the world. He didn’t find what he was looking for. Ares was about to give up when he settled on one last chest of drawers. Opening one, he found an old leather scroll wrapped up in a ribbon.

“What’s this?” he asked, opening the scroll up.

It was a spell scroll, covered in intricate runes. A note at the top said, “For Lorrie: when you need a special something for that special someone, just make a wish.” At the very bottom was a runic incantation.

“A Wish spell,” Ares muttered. “These are very rare. How did Lorrie get one?”

He moved to put it back, but stopped. This could fix his problem. But it wasn’t his to use. Still, if it was down here, there was a chance Lorrie had forgotten about it. But that wouldn’t make it right. He should just put it back and forget about it.

Ares sat the scroll down, but didn’t let go. The memory of that morning came back to him. He felt so cut off from the rest of his family and so out of place in his own body. Ares had no idea why or how, and there was no way he was going to be able to fix it on his own. This might be his only chance to do something about his issue.

“Easier to ask forgiveness than permission,” he said, unraveling the scroll again. He started reciting the runes, even though he wasn’t sure what they meant. At the end, the scroll started glowing. Taking a deep breath, Ares said, “I wish I felt happy as a member of this family.”

The scroll grew even brighter, then turned to dust in Ares’ hands. He gulped. Then he doubled over and collapsed to the floor. His insides felt like they were being shuffled about. Breathing was hard. Ares wanted to cry out for Vega or Lorrie but couldn’t make a sound.

Then it was over and he could breathe again. Ares stood up and everything felt wrong. He pushed his hair out of his face—was it longer now?—and stood up. His clothes hung loosely on him. What had the spell done to his body?

Ares saw the glint of light reflecting off of a mirror nearby. He fumbled his way over and stood in front of it, adjusting his glasses. His breathing stopped as he took in the way he looked. Ares’ light blond hair was longer; it came down past his shoulders. His face was still covered in freckles, but looked softer and rounder without any hint of wispy facial hair. His shoulders looked smaller, but he had curves running down his chest and hips. At first glance, Ares looked like a girl.

He screamed.

QuillRabbit

Well, here's the new story I promised. Just a reminder, tomorrow, Thursday 17th, I'm going to be changing the username associated with this account, so keep an eye out for that.