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Writer's pictureThayer A. Serrenn

Good Old Fashioned Family Bonding, A GUARDIAN Files Short Story by Thayer A. Serrenn

Updated: May 14, 2021

"Dad. Dad, you're distracted again."


Ender Esterrea blinked out of his thoughts and back into reality. "Sorry kiddo," he said sheepishly, "Didn't mean to do that. I forgot to take my medication again."


The teenage boy standing across from him rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised?" The boy laughed to himself, "You've got to get a routine dad, otherwise you're just going to keep on forgetting it. I learned that the hard way."


Ender shook his head and looked at the ground. "I'll try. No promises it'll actually end up happening," he said, "Now, Bones, how have your exercises been going?"


The boy-- Bones-- scowled. "Terribly. I can't get the wings to come out properly," he said, "They look way too cursed."


Ender nodded. "Mmm. Let me see you try then, and I can give you some pointers."


"Ok."


Bones closed his eyes and concentrated. A few seconds and a quick flash of magical light later, a pair of wings popped from his back-- only, they didn't quite look like wings. One looked like a vaguely wing shaped blob of dripping paint while the other was a skeleton wing that looked as though it belonged to an earthen mammal known as a "bat". Ender snickered. "I see what you mean by 'cursed.'"


Bones crossed his arms and scowled. "It's not funny. I can't get them to work right."


Ender hid his face behind his hands, shoulders shaking from laughter. It shouldn't have been that funny, especially not from a boy who could kill him in a second flat if he wanted, but it was. "I'm sorry--" the elder angel choked out, desperately trying to keep all traces of mirth from his voice, "You're right, it's definitely not funny--"


"Are you gonna teach me how to fix this glitch in my magic or just stand there laughing?"


Ender took a hand off his face and held up a finger-- a signal he remembered from his time on Earth as a symbol that meant to wait a moment. He allowed himself to keep laughing for a few moments before it naturally started to settle down. He dropped both hands to his sides, revealing a face with a twitching smile that refused to leave. "Alright, I'll help. Though I think you could probably fly with those," Ender said, "Magic is rather good at breaking the laws of physics after all. Plus it would fit with your rather, uh, unique aesthetic."


Bones gave him a deadpan stare. "No."


"Ok then. What you're going to need to do is to uh, get more in touch with your…." Ender gestured with his hands, "I don't know how to explain that in a way that makes sense, but you have connect with your essence, I guess?"


"You mean… like my soul?"


"Kind of. C'mere," Ender beckoned his son over, pulling a tablet and stylus from his coat pockets, "The magical equation is a bit more complicated than that."


Bones made his way over, leaning against a nearby wall. "Ok then. Explain it."


"Most of the magic normal Mages use have a single driving and funneling force," Ender said, drawing a small circle on one part of the screen, "That would be the soul, like you said."


Bones nodded slowly, his dark eyes narrowed in concentration. "So for more complex things you have to bring in another funneling force, yeah?"


Ender nodded, drawing another circle a ways away from the first. "Exactly. That force is your emotions. Magic tends to react unpredictably around them and trigger it by accident, which is why it's not always advised to rely on that alone to do magic," he explained, "This dual method is pretty common among more experienced mages, especially the uh. Ravedyne kind."


Bones frowned. "I'm sensing there's still more forces than just these two," He said slowly.


"You're right," Ender nodded, smiling a little. Wow, his son was clever. He liked that about the kid. "There's a final funneling force, but it's not used much except outside of typical mage magic. Angelic magic, if you couldn't tell, is not typical mage magic."


"So…. If I want to manifest my wings properly, I'm gonna need to learn it," Bones said, "Can't be much harder than most magic already is, I might as well try and learn this."


Ender's grin grew a little. "Atta boy, that's the spirit."


Bones rolled his eyes a little. "Whatever. Just tell me what the final force thingie is already."


"It's kind of hard to explain," Ender said, drawing the final circle on the tablet, forming a triangle, "But I think it's best described as memories? No that's not right, give me a second." The older angel frowned, thinking for a few moments.


"Sense of self, that's it!" Ender said, "It's less of a having a permanent state of self, because no one has that, but acknowledging what it currently is, even if you don't really feel like you have one. Because your state of self it's that ambiguity. You accept whatever state of self you currently have and it helps funnel and control the magic even further, allowing you to do spells better."


"I have…. Numerous questions on the practical uses of this kind of magic--" Bones for an excited look in his eyes, "That is so flipping cool."


Ender laughed a little. "I'm glad you think so. We can discuss the practicalities and uses of the three different forces later though, for now: how about you give your wings another try?"


Bones grinned and gave his father a thumbs up before jogging back to his old spot across the yard. He planted his feet into the ground with his hands by his sides, closing his eyes. He nodded once, indicating that he was ready to try again. "Alright kiddo, give it a try," Ender said, settling down on a rock.


Immediately, things were different. The magical light surrounding the boy was brighter and created more of an aura around him, almost like a haze of glowing smoke. A wind that seemed only to come from within the magic ruffled Bones's thick curly hair and the light slowly began to form in the shape of wings on his back. The light grew brighter, so bright that Ender was forced to close his eyes again. When it died down and he could open them again, a pair of large black feathered wings had sprouted from the back of the tiny half angelic boy across from Ender.


Bones opened his eyes, blinking away the usual void-black magical residue that had expanded from his iris and all over the whites of his eyes. He looked at Ender, his eyes hopeful and wide. "Did I do it?" He asked softly.


For the first time in his life, Ender Esterrea was left speachless with joy. He'd done it. His son had actually done it. He'd properly manifested his wings for the first time, and they were beautiful. Ender nodded, blinking away tears.


When he was finally able to speak again, he did. "They're perfect," he whispered, "They're absolutely perfect. I'm so, so proud of you Bones."


For once in his life, the boy didn't notice it didn't care about the use of his old name. Instead, he beamed and hugged his father tight. "I did it!" He squealed, "Dad, I DID it!!!!"


Ender hugged his son back as tight as he could. "Yes you did," he said, "And I've never been more proud."

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