“Argis! I really can’t believe you,” cried Ethel as her charge walked in the door. The girl had arrived late, and missed the entire lesson her private tutor was supposed to give.

“I really am sorry,” Argis said sincerely. She felt the same twinge of guilt she had felt that morning before she left the house. She hated disappointing Ethel, but she didn’t know how to stop herself from doing so.

Ethel sighed and asked, “If I scheduled a lesson tomorrow, you wouldn’t go, would you? You would ignore me just the same way you did today. The same way you always have.”

Argis felt her twinge turn into a pang of guilt. How can I be so thoughtless?

“Ethel, I’ll finish dinner preparations if you’d like. I can go study, just like you always ask,” Argis offered. She wanted to do something, anything, to make the situation right.

“Go study. You have such a high potential, my girl.” Ethel kissed Argis on the cheek before shooing the girl upstairs. “You could enter a top university if you wanted to. Just like Sabine did.”

Argis smiled at her guardian before running up the stairs. What Ethel said was true – her magical abilities could be very strong, if she just focused on practice and study. She had taken a test determining magical potential almost immediately after moving in with Ethel, and the administrators said her score was one of the highest they had ever seen.

She could be one of the most renowned instructors in the city. She could be a powerful alchemist. She could be on a government committee. She could do whatever she liked, if her abilities were strong enough.

But they weren’t. Potential was one thing, but actual ability was another. Magic was a strange art, requiring hours of practice to perfect and control. Argis could hardly cook a meal with her magic. She had to rely on mundane methods of doing things. She had to use a match to start a fire, even though she could feed energy into it afterward. She had to be close to an object to call it to her, even though she didn’t need the stepstool anymore.

I just need more practice, thought Argis. But her resolve crumbled within seconds. And I never get it. I’m always off doing something else.

Argis had been told many times that she should take after Sabine. Her friend was a model student, acing every test in class and performing feats far above her age level. She could have studied at any university in the country, but decided to stay in Ather for personal reasons. It certainly wasn't due to financial constraints; magical ability directly correlated to income. Her family had talent, and everybody knew it.

Why does she even bother associating with me? Argis asked herself. But before she could begin a spiral of increasingly depressing thoughts, she stopped. I am friendly, I am enthusiastic, and I am uplifting. I am a good friend. Argis continued to consciously think positive thoughts, a technique she had learned as a child, as she walked down the hallway.

When Argis reached her room, she searched for the textbook her previous tutor had given her to study. Argis didn’t attend the city-funded schools; she had enough behavioral issues that Ethel had hired private tutors instead.

She sat on the edge of her bed after finding the book and leafed through the pages, trying to find the bookmark. When she did, she began reading.

This is so boring, thought Argis. I already know all of this information.

But although she silently complained, Argis reminded herself that she should study. It was for the best.

Several hours later, Ethel called to her from downstairs. Her voice was loud and clear in Argis’ room, for an enchantment had made it so. Argis leapt up, textbook forgotten, and came downstairs for dinner.

”Dinner?” Argis asked excitedly. She stopped in the doorway to the kitchen when she saw there were several people inside.

“My apologies, I was unaware we had guests. Wait, Kadir!?”