No matter how hard I try to ignore what they always say, it keeps haunting me. I really despise them. And I will repeat it a million times, my father was beyond a genius in magic. He always told me. He's a grand user of magic who worked at the very top as a Court Magician! Under the very scorching sun, king Tezca himself.

Although father told me all these things, we still lived in the boonies, the farthest reaches of the kingdom. But I believe him. He... taught me about the world. There are no books in our home but I've have gained much knowledge from him. Day and night, for hours he would recite his endless library of knowledge to me. And I know, I've yet to blossom as a magician. My circuits haven't activated yet even though the age to use magic is at 12 years old. I still have faith in me. I am just a slow starter. And when it happens, eventually, I will shock them all. Maybe literally.

I was absorbed in my thoughts and before I knew it I was in front of the big tree next to our house. There, Nola was at the base of the tree facing me. But something was strange. Nola looked like she was hovering in the air. There was a gap between her and teh ground. And as if on cue, the wind started to blow harder and faster.

My long hair and dress started to sway wildly along the wind, and out of nowhere, something in the air in front of the tree began to peel off. Like a painting coming off a wall, or a clear curtain hanging between two places letting go. It shatters and vanishes with the wind. 

And instead of the false front of the tree which I had always seen my whole life, I saw what was concealed in plain view. Nola was sitting on a box of some kind. She meowed at me in a way strange to my ears. It was soothing and inviting. I walk towards Nola and as I get nearer she hops out of the way. Beautiful patters were carved on all sides of the box. It had the color of cedar but was made of material such as metal. The top of the box had a big crest imprinted on it.

"My dad's crest!" I say out loud.