“Alright, do you understand the rules, Fel?”

“I think I do.”

“Evan?”

“He left to go read over there.”

“EVAN!!”

…

“Why do you have to be so violent all the time?”

Evan grumbled, rubbing his sore head as he trudged behind Zed, who walked back towards Fel and Wyra.

“Because you ran off to read right as I was explaining the rules of the game we’re about to play!” He fumed.

“Well you could have told me it was important?”

“I did!”

“Did you?”

“He did.”

“He did.”

“...”

Evan scratched his head awkwardly. He had announced, much to the shock of the family, that he would go outside more often from now on.

Cara burst into tears at the news. Evan did not seem to enjoy playing with other children of his age, which somewhat concerned her.

He simply spent his days holed up in his room reading books inside the house. On the occasional day her nagging got through to him, Evan seemed to have disappeared completely, being nowhere near any of the popular spots for children to play. However, he did always come back before curfew so Cara said nothing.

Actually, Evan simply practiced with his invisibility spell during those times, but Cara didn’t need to know that.

He knew she was concerned about his lack of friends, but he could not help it, or rather, would not. A person does not change their way of living easily and it was true for Evan. He had been living in almost complete social isolation for more than four years, which made him socially awkward.

Although the ice in his heart had thawed, it still had yet to fully melt.

It had been several weeks since then. Right now, Evan was outside in a park close to their house with Zed, Wyra, and Fel, who asked him to play a game with them.

Fel and Wyra were wearing matching sundresses that Leon had bought at Grephin’s along with the floral day dress Zed picked out. Meanwhile, Zed wore a simple shirt with pants.

Evan, however, wore long sleeves to the park, looking out of place among the three of them.

“Remind me why you’re wearing that again.”

“I hate sunlight. It hurts my skin and it’s bright.”

“...”

“Anyway, I’ll explain the rules again.”

“The rules are simple. Each person gets a flag they can hide anywhere in the park. You have to find where everyone else’s flags are and collect them, then bring them back to your own flag.”

“But! If you get tagged, you have to go back to your own flag before you can start searching again.”

“The first one to collect all four flags wins. Do you understand the rules, Evan?”

“Yeah, but one question. Can you use magic?”

“Sure, but I’ll be allowed to augment myself.”

“Fine by me.”

“Alright. Evan, you take the red flag. Wyra, you take blue. Fel, you take green, and I’ll have yellow. We have 10 minutes to hide the flag starting…”

“Now!”

…

After the 10 minutes were over, everyone returned to their original spots, looking confident with themselves.

“Have you all hidden your flags?” Zed asked.

Everyone nodded, eager to start.

‘I wonder how well I’ll do here.’

“Okay, we’ll start on the count of three then.”

“Three.”

‘Wait, we’re starting with a free for all right at the start?!’

“Two.”

‘I haven’t prepared anything yet!’

“One!”

Evan immediately ducked under a punch thrown by Zed, dodging by a hair’s breadth.

‘Fast. So this is an augmenter’s speed.’

Then, out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Wyra chanting and her clothes fluttering about.

‘Wind magic.’

He jumped back, hiding himself behind Zed as Wyra fired the wind bullet she casted.

The bullet crashed into Zed’s leg, making him cry out in pain.

“Zed, I’m sorry!” Wyra cried out, her eyes widening in horror.

Evan wanted to dash back in during the chaos, but Fel was too quick.

She blocked Evan’s path, taking a swipe at him herself. Seeing as his plan failed, Evan resorted for another one.

“Illum Bor.”

A blinding flash of light erupted from Evan’s palm, causing Fel and Wyra to raise their arms in response.

‘Wait, Evan-’ Fel realized, turning around at the last second, but it was too late when she felt someone slap her arm.

Evan had tagged them both while they were blinded.

“No fair. You cheated.” Wyra muttered with a pout.

“You always say that Wyra.” Zed said with a laugh as Evan helped him up and chanted a healing spell.

“Are you alright? Can you breathe just fine?”

“Woah, calm down Evan.” Zed chuckled. “It’s just a wind bullet.”

Evan hung his head sheepishly, “Sorry.”

“Also, what the hell was that?! Why did you all go for me?”

“We thought it would be funny.” Zed replied. Fel and Wyra nodded along.

“All of you are jerks. That was not fun at all.”

Everyone left for their own flags, laughing.

Soon, Evan was the only left standing in the original clearing.

With a smile on his face.

‘Heh, this is fun.’

…

‘Damn it, he wiped out the three of us so quickly.’

Fel thought, gritting her teeth in frustration.

‘How did he get so strong?’ She wondered.

‘It’s definitely not training, because I never see him do anything other than read.’

‘And it’s not like he has any experience. This is first time playing the game for gods sakes.’

‘I guess I still have much to learn.’ She sighed as she slowly made her way back to her flag, hidden underneath a tree in a flowerbed, trying not to get spotted by the others.

‘Good, it’s still safe. Hopefully no one-’

“Hello there, Fel.”

“Eek!” She squealed in fright. She turned around and her eyes widened in shock.

“Evan?”

‘B-but I didn’t see anyone following me. I was being so careful too.’

And yet, Evan stood there behind her grinning from ear to ear.

“Thanks for the flag, Fel.” He said, casually picking the green flag out from among the blooming flowers before disappearing into thin air again.

Like a ghost.

‘Haha, I really can’t beat him, can I?’ She thought bitterly as she slumped down on the tree with her head hung low.

‘Damn it.’

…

Wyra crept up behind Zed, who was walking back to his flag while whistling a tune, completely oblivious of his stalker.

‘Hehe, I bet no one has thought of carrying their flag with them.’ She thought, smug smile on her face. ‘That way, I can immediately go back to searching for the other’s flags.’

‘I’ll go get Zed’s flag first. Then, I’ll pay Evan back for that stunt he pulled on all of us.’

“Wyra, I know you’re there. Come out”

‘Heh, he’s just bluffing. He has no idea-’

“I can hear you laughing to yourself, you know.”

“...”

“Ahem. I meant to do that.”

“Sure, you did.” Zed retorted, rolling his eyes.

“Alright, let’s like we used to. Just the two of us.”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Zed grinned, before charging in at Wyra. She returned the smile with one of her own and a wind bullet to boot.

Zed leaned his body to the side as the projectile hissed loudly by his ear.

“Missed me by a mile that time!”

“Shut up!” She snarled viciously.

Wyra continued to cast spell after spell, but Zed dodged them all with practiced ease.

She was starting to get seriously annoyed now. She had yet to hit Zed once and he was still advancing. She kept her distance from him, but he was an augmenter.

He was much faster than her, and soon, he would catch up and it would be over for her.

The sun had risen high in the sky now, and both children were tired, sweat dripping down their foreheads.

“Tired already, Zed?” Wyra panted.

“No, why? Ready to give up?” Zed shot back with a smile.

She snorted in derision, “You wish.”

They both readied themselves. This final exchange would be the last one.

Then, a cool breeze blew through the park, giving the twins some refreshment.

Wyra could pick up many different scents in the wind, the woody smell of the trees, the sweat from her and Zed’s bodies, the smell of paper…

‘Wait, paper?’ Wyra thought, alarmed.

“I see you,” She heard someone whisper behind her before she felt someone tag her from behind.

“And thank you for saving me the trouble of finding your flag.” Evan said as he took the blue flag from her dress pocket.

“What?! But how? I didn’t see anyone even approach us. How did you get there?”

“Magic.” Evan replied with a smirk.

“Did you already take out Fel?” Zed asked.

“Yeah, I was just waiting for you to get tired before finishing the game.” He replied with a smile.

Zed returned the smile with one of his own.

“Alright then, Evan. Show me what you’ve got!”