Aegeus had long known his magic made him different, but over time he realized the change ran deeper.
He paused before the bathroom mirror, tracing the contour of his cheek with a thumb. First, there were his eyes— a striking blend of hazel and blue, devoid of any visible blood vessels.
Then came his face; it was entirely blemish-free, without a single visible pore— the kind of smoothness that people say should have belonged to a painting.
It also made him a magnet for exactly the kind of attention he had learned to dread— every aunt, every stranger in a supermarket queue, every teacher who really should have known better, all seemingly incapable of resisting the urge to pinch his cheeks the moment they laid eyes on him.
Aegeus pulled his hands away from his face, turning his back on the mirror
"Ready," he said with resolution. He was already wearing his school uniform and carrying his small school bag on his back.
"Aww~"
One look at his serious face and Jean couldn't help herself. She reached out and pinched both his cheeks at once.
"He-yy, stop tha-t already," he said, trying to peel her hands off.
The moment she let him go, he bolted. convinced that if he lingered, she would inevitably go in for round two.
"That," he muttered, rubbing his cheeks, "was definitely illegal child abuse."
"Are you ready for school?" came Adam's voice from upstairs.
"Yes, Dad," Aegeus said, as his father came down the stairs with his usual smile.
The whole family gathered outside the house. Jean kissed both her children on the cheek, and then she pulled Aegeus into one last hug before letting go.
Adam would drop Aegeus at school on his way to his clinic, while Jean had something to take care of at the hospital before going to the clinic, and she took Hermione with her.
~~~Inside the class~~~
Inside, he spotted two empty seats side by side and sat down in one of them as casually as he could manage, hoping to blend in.
The plan lasted about as long as it took for the first person to do a double-take.
A quiet ripple went through the room. Head after head turned— a few whispers broke out, and before long, most of the room was covertly sneaking glances in his direction. Aegeus simply ignored it, having long since grown accustomed to the extra attention.
The day wasn't terrible, just excruciatingly slow. What they were teaching, he already knew. What he didn't, they taught at a pace that made him want to take a nap.
He briefly considered asking to be moved up a grade, but decided against it— there weren't a lot of benefits to doing that, and furthermore, going to school wasn't just about learning.
"It doesn't really matter," he muttered.
Wherever they put me, I'll be a step ahead. Might as well stick around and learn how to act like a kid.
Aegeus instead decided to busy himself with some training.
Creating a ball of light and then heating it to transform it into a flame, then transforming it into some shiny firework, the school day passed quickly as he entertained himself with different magic tricks.
"Did you have fun?" his father asked on the way home from school.
"So-so," Aegeus muttered, adjusting the straps of his school bag.
"I heard you fall asleep again..."
"I was awake. Closing my eyes helps me think!"
Adam gave him a look that suggested he wasn't buying it, but let it go.
~~~
That evening, a faint pop echoed from behind Aegeus's door. A beat of total silence followed— then a muffled thud that sounded suspiciously like someone landing badly.
"What do you think he is doing in there?" whispered Adam.
"I don't know," Jean whispered back.
Another sound drifted through— a sharp little crack, and then nothing at all for a few seconds, as if the room itself had gone empty.
"Should we open the door and ask?" whispered Adam
"No," Jean said firmly.
The two of them were so absorbed in their own talk that neither of them noticed the small girl sneaking up behind them.
"Whatcha doing?"
"AHHH!" Adam and Jean both jumped, startled out of their skins.
*Aegeus POV*
Aegeus was training, deep in concentration.
"Agy~" came a small, very cute voice.
He stopped mid-motion and spotted an eye peering through the gap in his door. The moment he figured out who it belonged to, he stopped his training and crossed the room to let her in.
He had been so deep in concentration that he hadn't even noticed his parents were also there, who had already fled down the hallway, too embarrassed to admit they had been listening in.
Unlike most older brothers, Aegeus didn't find his sister annoying at all. Quite the opposite— he thought she was adorable and remarkably well-behaved. Well-behaved, of course, meaning she listened to him anyone else.
Aegeus softened his posture immediately, turning toward the doorway where a small silhouette was peering in. Standing there in her pajamas, clutching a piece of paper, she offered him a shy, hopeful smile.
She was holding up a drawing. Two big stick figures, and two smaller ones holding hands. She'd even added a little red heart in the middle.
"What do you think~" Hermione asked, a bit shy, puffing her cheeks out slightly.
Aegeus considered it for a few seconds before answering.
"A better artist was never born," he said, entirely serious, his voice rising slightly on the last few words for emphasis.
"Come on, be honest~" Hermione said, cheeks going bright red from the praise.
"I never lie," he said, with total conviction.
If he was being honest with himself, there were two reasons he said his sister was the best artist alive— one, he was hopelessly art-blind, and two, she was extremely cute.
Cute is justice, he thought, firmly.
Hermione ran off happily to go show their parents her drawing. Their reaction was much the same as his— albeit noticeably more tame.
[Name] Aegeus Granger
[Age] 5 years
[Strength] 10
[Intelligence] 15
[Magic] 11
[Defense] 9
[Control] D
Mathematics: Level 4 (35%) (Key Stage 3)
Physics: Level 3 (3%) (Key Stage 3)
Chemistry: Level 3 (30%) (Key Stage 3)
Biology: Level 3 (14%) (Key Stage 3)
Geology: Level 3 (50%) (Key Stage 3)
Geography: Level 3 (15%) (Key Stage 3)
Astronomy: Level 3 (50%) (Key Stage 3)
Linguistics: Level 1 (50%) (English (Key Stage 3))
_________________________________________________________________________
TO BE CONTINUED
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