Chapter 6
Time Skip: Nico is now 15 years old.
The ceremony grounds buzzed with the nervous energy of hundreds of young mages gathered for the big day - the Grimoire Acceptance Ceremony. This was the moment they had all been anticipating when each worthy candidate would finally receive their own personal grimoire spellbook. For Nico, this event represented far more than just another ritual - it was his first major milestone towards leaving an indelible magical mark upon the world itself.
Standing beside him, Noelle worried her lip, clearly wrestling with inner turmoil and doubts. Despite Nico's patient efforts helping her gain a semblance of control over her magic, his twin sister's confidence often felt tenuous at best. A cruel little voice whispered incessantly in the back of her mind - what if she failed to earn a grimoire at all? Those gnawing insecurities continued eating away at her usual poise.
Before Nico could offer any reassuring words, a familiar face caught his eye amidst the milling crowd of nervous youths. It was none other than their cousin Mimosa Vermillion, a friendly face from their childhood days. The redheaded girl's emerald eyes sparkled with recognition as she carefully made her way over, holding up the hems of her dress robes.
"Mimosa! Over here!" Nico called out with a welcoming wave and grin.
"Well, well," Mimosa chirped in a lightly teasing tone as she reached them. "I was almost starting to think you two had chickened out on me!"
Nico feigned an exaggerated pout, playing along with an easy smirk. "Us? Never! We're just giving you dumbos a head start on earning those dusty old grimoires."
The joke had its desired effect, drawing a peal of laughter from Mimosa while simultaneously easing the tension from Noelle's shoulders. His sister blushed prettily, but the corners of her lips twitched upwards into a faint smile. Nico felt a surge of relief watching that familiar doubt fade from her eyes, even if only momentarily. Not when such thrilling possibilities and adventures surely awaited them both just on the horizon.
"You're absolutely dreadful," Noelle managed in a haughty tone somewhat undercut by her lingering grin.
Mimosa simply shook her head in amusement, giggling into her hand at their typical antics. "Alright, playtime's over you two. The ceremony will start calling us up to receive our grimoires soon, so look sharp." She shot Nico a mischievous wink. "Especially you, dear cousin."
With an easy grin and slight exhalation, Nico allowed his entropy magic to ripple outward in a faint distortion. In an instant, any dirt, wrinkles or loose threads instantly vanished from his ceremonial robes - leaving them crisp and pristine. Noelle merely rolled her eyes at the casual display of his powers, long since accustomed to such feats.
As the three cousins chatted and waited to be summoned forth, Nico's eyes drifted towards the raised ceremonial dais where several very important members of the nobility stood observing everything with stern expressions. Two figures in particular drew his piqued attention - his eldest brother Nozel Silva alongside Fuegoleon Vermillion. The two renowned Magic Knights conferred quietly with the wizened old Grimoire Tower Master presiding over the sacred rites.
Even a decade after first awakening to his own gifts, Nico still marveled at Nozel's aristocratic bearing and sheer magical presence. His eldest brother radiated the effortless dignity, power and poise befitting the scion of such an illustrious noble lineage. Undeniable pride shone in those chiseled features, though Nico wondered if he would earn more from Nozel than a mere curt nod of acknowledgement this time.
Meanwhile, Fuegoleon represented everything a true knight should aspire towards. The eldest Vermillion son seemed to simply exude fiery passion, unshakable courage and ethical fortitude from his very core. Observing such singularly impressive individuals prompted Nico to momentarily reevaluate the grand scale of his own lofty ambitions. If he hoped to one day stand as their true peer and equal, he clearly had serious work ahead of him still...
"Nico?" Noelle's soft voice broke through his momentary reverie accompanied by a gentle nudge of her elbow against his arm. She searched his expression with a slightly furrowed brow, offering a small crease of concern. "You looked completely lost in thought for a moment there. Is everything alright?"
Nico's reply came easily, sincere affection and resolute self-assurance ringing through every syllable. As rare as such perfect moments were between them nowadays, he felt compelled to share his deepest truths with his twin - the sole person in this world who could never be deceived.
"Everything is more than alright, little sister," he assured her with a warm smile, taking her smaller hand in his own as a tangible reminder of their permanently intertwined bond. "In fact, I don't think I've ever felt more prepared and excited for whatever comes next. With you by my side, I'm ready to take on any challenge."
The brilliant smile blossoming across Noelle's delicate features chased away any lingering seeds of doubt or melancholy for Nico. In fleeting moments like these, he could vividly envision them standing triumphant against any obstacles through mutual perseverance and siblinghood's precious gifts. An unstoppable duo, now and forever into whatever upheavals awaited along their joined path.
As the ceremony commenced in earnest, Nico tuned out the stuffy formal rhetoric to instead soak in every nuance and detail unfolding before his eyes. Save for the occasional muffled gasp of shock or awe from the crowd, the gathered masses remained in reverent silence as the ancient rituals proceeded with time-honored precision. Despite their differing backgrounds and circumstances, all present seemed united in a shared sense of giddy anticipation towards whatever marvels destiny held in store.
Much to no one's surprise, not a single one of the prospective new mages that day inherited a legendary four-leaf clover grimoire - signifying immense, peerless magical ability of the highest echelon. Such fortuitous grimoires were incredibly rare, the stuff of fanciful myth and legend to most.
Nico paid those few inevitable letdowns little mind, however, utterly enraptured by the phantasmic tome that materialized floating before both him and Noelle in a dazzling kaleidoscopic flash. Its twisting ironbark design and distinctive dual clover motifs upon the cover appeared completely unprecedented, prompting shocked murmurs from the assembled onlookers.
One side bore a pristine ring inscribed within the clover emblem, an eternal circle representing limitless possibilities and order. The opposite side featured the coiling ouroboros icon of chaos - twin serpents consuming one another's tails in an infinite cycle of creation and destruction. Instinctively, Nico reached out and traced his fingertips along the hypnotic grimoire's intricately etched grooves, feeling its power's unique resonance pulse in harmony with the very marrow of his bones. A faint yet insistent vibration pregnant with raw, untapped potential and the promise of revelations yet to be unveiled.
Fuegoleon was the first to break the stunned hush, deep voice easily carrying across the assembly grounds. "A grimoire bearing no clovers at all, instead displaying unknown glyphs and imagery. Nozel, what could such an anomaly possibly signify?"
Standing beside the fiery Crimson Lion, Nozel carefully scrutinized the twinned tome with narrowed eyes, his thoughts clearly churning behind that aristocratic mask of composure. At length, he offered the ceremonial master a measured reply: "Considering Nico's uniquely entropic talents, I can only surmise those symbols represent some manner of syncretic amalgam - the duality of order and chaos locked in perpetual cycle."
Something flickered momentarily across Nozel's chiseled features then - not quite disappointment, but perhaps the barest glimmer of uncertainty gnawing at his usual impassive poise. "Though in truth, I had half-expected his grimoire to manifest as a rare four-leaf clover befitting the full extent of his abilities. This...unprecedented new paradigm shall be fascinating to dissect going forward."
So saying, Nozel folded his arms across his chest and simply watched events continue to unfold - impassive mask firmly back in place. Yet behind that unflappable veneer, his quicksilver mind already hummed with quiet introspection over what new wonders Nico would unleash upon the world.
Down below, Noelle and Mimosa crowded around Nico in a loose semi-circle, equal parts brimming with excitement and mystified fascination over this unexpected turn of events. Their wide eyes shone with rapt interest as they drank in every bizarre detail and flourish of his twinned tome.
"No one's ever heard of a grimoire looking anything like that before!" Mimosa gushed in a hushed undertone, greedily tracing her fingers along the cover's spiraling iconography. "It's...wow. Almost like your magic defies the traditional categorizations altogether."
"Yeah, no kidding!" Noelle chimed in eagerly, bumping her twin's shoulder with her own. "I've said it before and I'll say it again - my big brother's just full of surprises, isn't he?"
As his sister's emerald eyes sparkled up at him with pure sisterly admiration shining through, Nico simply grinned back at them both - unable to hide his own boyish enthusiasm bubbling forth. Already his mind raced with the possibilities encoded within this brand new paradigm, the tantalizing secrets waiting to be unraveled. While he remained uncertain about the full scope of his newfound powers, one fact crystalized before him with perfect certainty - his future shone brighter than ever before.
"Well, there's only one way to find out what other crazy talents this thing might unlock," Nico declared with a playful lilt, gently scooping the twinned tome into his grasp as the arcane grimoire thrummed with his mere touch alone. "Anyone care to join me for a few practice volleys later on the training grounds?"
High pitched squeals of excitement answered his rhetorical question as Mimosa and Noelle excitedly clasped hands together - both sets of eyes sparkling like newborn stars brimming with all the heady delights of fresh discoveries lying in wait just over the horizon. Looking upon their enraptured faces, one could glimpse three kindred spirits bound by shared dreams of greatness not yet conceived.
Later that very evening after the ceremonial festivities finally wound down, Nico crept away to the familiar seclusion of his clan's private woodland training grounds tucked away amidst the verdant foothills. He always appreciated the endless tranquility offered by the sprawling idyll - unblemished nature and gossamer moonlight lingering through the whispering branches.
With a deep, steadying breath, Nico carefully unclasped the twinned grimoire's cover - feeling its familiar thrumming vibration intensify tenfold. Arcane glyphs illuminated along the vellum pages in an eerily beautiful xanthic glow as the artifact recognized its master's essence calling forth its yet-untapped potential.
"Let's see what you're truly capable of..." Nico murmured in quiet reverence, focusing his entropy mana into the cradle of his palms.
In response, a glistening sphere of scintillating chaotic energy began swirling into existence - constantly shifting through a dizzying array of clashing hues and intensities. Trembling tendrils of unstable ambient magic lashed outwards in constant flux, seeming to defy the very laws of physics and order governing the natural world around it. He could sense the potential for utter devastation barely contained within this single minuscule construct, so much raw entropy pain-stakingly sculpted down to a pinprick focus by sheer force of will.
This was his first true offensive spell gleaned from the grimoire's pages - the so-called "Chaos Blast" of unrestrained entropic fury. Already he could perceive how unleashing such an attack at full bore would reduce any opposition to scattered particulate through merciless subatomic dissolution. Yet simply detonating that full destructive payload without restraint carried untold risks to himself and the surrounding environment as well.
"Let's start off a little smaller to test the waters..." Nico muttered, sighting a nearby series of granite boulders strewn about the glen before flinging his palm outwards in a languid arc.
The chaotic energies hurled forth from his grasp with surprising force, rapidly accelerating through the air in wild, careening undulations before abruptly detonating against the rocky outcropping in an incredible explosion of noise and fury. Nico shielded his face from the cascading shockwave and debris as the volatile chaos disrupted the very physical forces binding the massive boulder together - reducing the dense stone to shattered fragments in an instant. Even hastily throttled back, he instinctively recognized how such destructive power barely scratched the surface of his potential.
As the roiling smoke slowly cleared, Nico stood at the precipice of the fresh impact crater with eyes blown wide and chest heaving from exertion and exhilaration alike. Tremors of excitement and trepidation danced across his nerves in equal measure, awash in the sheer vastness of this new paradigm unveiled before him.
"This is only the beginning..." Nico whispered reverently, emerald mana crackling around his clenched fists. "Let's see what other revelations you might yield within your pages, my friend."
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Author note:
Recommend me some good fanfics!