After
In the days that followed, John tried his best to uncover his natural abilities. As he sat with his sisters on a wooden bench in the park, he decided to teach the two vicious swans in the pond a lesson. He studied them with absolute concentration, and soon enough they rose into the air, hanging above the water for a terrified instant before splashing back down. They were stunned for a moment, then took off on wing across the pond, squawking like chickens.
“That should teach them,” he said.
“All swans fly,” Amarantia insisted. “That’s not magic.”
But between April’s assertions and the swans’ reactions, Amarantia was intrigued. She embarked on a quest to methodically test her siblings’ abilities.
When she began her experiment, John shook his head. “It’s a waste of time. We have th
