I don't know why I even tried...
The summit had officially started. A grand dinner had been organized for only the most elite of spellcasters, right before a speech by Giuseppe where he would tell his side of the Delfina Baradoz story. Officially, Daniele wasn't invited, but his aunt and uncle were invited, so they brought him with them, as they knew seeing Giuseppe in person would mean the world to him. Though let's be real, he would have prefered if it wasn't under those circumstances.
At the banquet, Daniele felt so out of place. Not only was he not invited here, he knows it's only a matter of time before he's just straight up forbidden from entering the Magic Realm. Hell, he won't even be able to cast the spell to open the portal. As to make his feeling of imposture even worse, he had lost his hat at the airport, and now he's in a formal event with his hair uncovered, and people will see him as a freaking slut. How could he even be a slut, does he look like he's having sex?!
As if all of that wasn't enough, of course, his parents were there. Why wouldn't they be?
His father, Roberto, he's not that afraid of him. He's a weak pathetic little man who does everything his wife tells him to, even though he probably doesn't even love her. The two got kinda forcibly married as their family were both rich and powerful, and because there barely were other options for spellcasters in Tartosa. You know, some real medieval bullshit even though this all went down in the early 90s.
His mother, Camilla, that's who Daniele is really afraid of. She's a vile woman, the reason why he's been kicked out of the family house in the first place. Word cannot express how much he hates that bitch, but there exist an avant-garde dance which you are free to imagine right now. However, you know, today he's gotta act polite, and who knows...If Dawud can reconcile with his mother, why couldn't he?
The last woman at the table, the spellcastress in red, was named Diana Silvercloud and yes, she is Lilah's mother. Daniele had heard of her before, as her family are the founders of Magnolia Promenade, a small town which is now a suburb of Willow Creek. However, he had never met her, he didn't even know what she looked like.
Nervously, he approached the table, but before he could sneak a word in, he heard the conversation.
Diana: So is it a boy or a girl? Camilla: It's going to be a girl, and she should be born somewhere in late January. Diana: Aren't you afraid she's gonna be...you know... Camilla: Not at all, Roberto and I used IVF to ensure she's gonna be born normal.
Wait...No, he must have misunderstood. There is no way his parents are having another baby. He's 22, he's too old to be getting a new sibling for the first time, and Camilla is 54 years old! His mother always claimed she's never going through the hell of pregnancy again, even if that means she's never giving the family a female heir as is expected of a spellcastress. Whatever happened, seems like she changed her mind.
Then again, yes, chronologically speaking, Camilla is 54, but physically she is much younger. Not only do spellcasters age more slowly than humans and live longer, it is very common for them to use magic to keep their youth for as long as possible. As a result, it's not unusual for family of spellcasters to have huge age gap between the siblings. Look at Diana for example, in her early 20s, she famously was in Giuseppe's harem and had a son with him, she even came close to marrying him. Then, as to make this extremely weird, 50 years later she got married instead to another one of Giuseppe's son and they had Lilah together. Does this woman look like she was born while the prohibition was in full swing?
Daniele: H-Hi. Camilla: What are you doing here? Isabella: I invited him. He is a part of this family whether you like it or not. Daniele: Can I talk to you for a sec?
He pulled his mother aside, and yeah, he understood correctly, he's gonna have a little sibling. Fuck. On top of that, it became clear Camilla was furious to see him here.
Daniele: Hi mom. It's been so long. Camilla: Get out of this place. You do not belong here and you know it. Daniele: I know I don't belong here, but I still have my powers so... Camilla: Don't you know how embarrassing it is for you to show up here? My entire family is ashamed of me for bringing another human into this world instead of a spellcaster. Daniele: I am not a human, and why are you talking as if it's not also my family? And no, they're not, aunt Isabella raised me when you and dad decided you were too good to have me as your son! Camilla: And you're not even wearing a spellcaster hat, what will people think? Daniele: You're not wearing one either! Camilla: It was designed by Isabella so it counts.
This all turned into a messy, petty arguments where they were insulting each other as if they were two kindergarteners instead of, you know, a mother and her son. Eventually, Daniele broke down and ran to the bathroom to go cry in peace.
Isabella: She's an awful person you know that...
She did sound pretty jaded saying this, she's used to it at this point. By virtue of being Camilla's younger sister, that means Isabella had the misfortune of knowing that woman literally her entire life. Roberto said nothing and did nothing, whatever was on his mind at that time, the world will never know.
Meanwhile, Daniele hid in the bathroom. What was he expecting? He did not want to sob, he's a grown man not a little boy, but fuck was it hard. What did he do to deserve such vitriol from his own mother? It's not like he asked being born like that.
You know what, maybe Matteo is right. The spellcasting world is awful and corrupt, and he's currently walking around it with a huge target on his back. But this is fine, he has a plan, a huge plan, he will tell these bunch of close-minded magical morons what he really think about them. The spellcasting world will remember this day for a long long time.
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