The Enchanted Heirloom: A Tale of Hidden Magic Short Story
Mira was walking to the old family flower shop on a crisp autumn morning when unexpectedly the sky became gray, and it started to snow hard. Oh no, a blizzard was whipping up Mira realized she then made a mad dash into the store in front of her. It was dark and creepy, Mira searched around for a light switch once she found it, light flooded the room to reveal that it was a bookstore. Mira walked around searching for anyone while the wind howled outside like a banshee, she walked to the back, and no one was around so she turned around and walked back towards the front there was a door to the basement, so she opened the door and went in.
Mira found the light switch and descended to the bottom, it was just a spacious room with shelves of books, and no one was there so she turned around and walked back the way she came shutting off the light and closing the door behind her. Mira then headed towards the stairs and got to the top and there were three doors. Mira opened the first door which was on the left side of the hallway, and it led to the bathroom, she opened the second door which was on the right side of the hallway, and it opened to the bedroom, finally she opened the last door it was at the end of the hallway, and it opened to a study. Mira walked into the study, the light was already on, and an unfinished book lay open on the desk like someone was there right before she came in.
Mira then turned to leave the room and noticed the rug near the wall was moved yet the wall looked like an ordinary wall. Mira being quite curious then looked at the wall and some books looked like they had been moved so she started messing with the books, the last book she touched opened the wall to reveal a hallway and at the end of the hallway was a set of stairs going up and down. Mira searched for a light switch and found there was not one, so she went back into the study to look for a flashlight, she found one on the desk. Mira equipped with the flashlight went into the dark and creepy hallway, she walked down the dark hallway until she came to a set of stairs they went up and down. Mira decided to go down and it led to another section of the basement but there was nothing there except more shelves with books, so Mira headed back to the stairs and ascended upwards past the dark hallway to the Attic at the top of the stairs.
Mira then noticed that there were three more doors just like in the hallway below. This time she tried the doors, and they were locked, so Mira looked around for a key she did not find any keys until she searched on top of the door frames, and she finally found the key on the last door. Mira then took the key and opened the first door, it opened to a library, it had a desk, tables and chairs, wands, and spell books. Mira then went to the second door, and it was a kitchen filled with herbs and cooking things and a hearth.
Mira became puzzled "What is this place?" she thought "Why did a blizzard pop out of nowhere? Why was I brought here?" At this point, she was confused and baffled even, yet something inside of her was being drawn to the door at the end of the hallway. Mira was trying to resist the urge to walk towards the door, but the urge was too powerful, and Mira succumbed to it. Mira opened the last door in the hallway, and it was a bedroom, it was the same bedroom from her childhood. "Why am I seeing my old room? No one knew I was at an orphanage with other kids. My parents, oh god what will my parents think if I tell them this? Oh, surely, they will think I have lost my mind or that I am just seeing things. I am JUST seeing things. But if that IS the case then why am I seeing my bedroom from the orphanage?" Mira thought to herself.
Then a voice filled the room and said, "Come sit child I will explain what it is you wish to know." the voice said. Mira asked, "How do you know me or what I want answered.". The voice said, "Because we have been expecting you.". Mira asked "Who are we and why have you been expecting me? The voice said, "In due time you will find all out."
Mira then went and sat in the chair and five people showed up, they were in robes of black. The one who had been speaking took off their hood to reveal themselves then beckoned the others to do the same. Mira recognized them as being from the orphanage. Mira then asked, "What is going on?" The person who had been speaking with her revealed that her name was Mrs. Armstrong and that the others were Miss Orr, Miss Patterson, Mr. Hochstrasser, Mr. Link, and Mr. Schreiber. After they revealed who they were Mira then asked, "Why did you bring that blizzard and force me to come to this shop and what am I even doing here, what is it that you want?" Mrs. Armstrong said, "We need you, my dear, you are no simple ordinary person." They led her to another wall and opened it to reveal another hallway with no way out, Mira turned around and asked "Why are you doing this? Where are you taking me?" Mrs. Armstrong said, "Shut up child, and concentrate, then you will know how to leave."
They then slammed the wall shut to leave her alone in the dark with the flashlight, it felt like hours when Mira remembered something she heard at the orphanage or was it even an orphanage it was a spell to find something. Mira concentrated hard and repeated that spell until she felt it was not working and was about to give up. Mira looked at the hallway wall and noticed a blue light coming from it, Mira walked over to the wall and touched the stone and the stone disappeared revealing a box. Mira heard the wall open, and Mrs. Armstrong asked if she had found anything, Mira got the feeling that she needed to hide it from them, so she told her no not yet and Mrs. Armstrong out of exasperation slammed the door closed.
Mira walked over to the wall and faintly heard Mrs. Armstrong say "If that child does not find this last heirloom, we will need to suck out her magic and find it ourselves, the ritual will not be able to be done until we have this last one, she will end up like all the others anyways it was what was intended to happen anyways." Mira moved back to the spot in the wall and took the box and opened it, it was a music box, but it was a magical music box and only the owner could hear its music.
After Mira opened the box, she heard the box speak to her and this is what it said "I am a magical box, and I was a part of a set and when I am put with the other boxes together our power would grant the user immortality however if the boxes were taken from their owners to be used by greedy people their souls would be damned. The box was part of a family heirloom just like the others that Mrs. Armstrong and her group of thieves stole, the heirlooms belonged to a group called the Sacred Blue Nymphs and they all sent their children to the Academy of Saint Roselyn which was a school to help hone their magic skills, however, a rival faction called the Sisters of Liavia tried to go after the kids but failed since the school was protected by that foul type of magic. So they went after the parents, stealing their magic, then sadly putting an end to them entirely they became terribly upset when the boxes were discovered to be gone and they figured the children had the boxes. Fast forward to right now, now you know why you were sent away and never saw your parents again, it was because of the group Mrs. Armstrong is with. Whatever you do, do not give me to them, you can use my teleportation power to leave this place." Mira then heard a shuffle near the wall and knew they were coming to check on her, so she used the boxes' power to teleport the old flower shop which is magically protected and untraceable. Mira noticed the blizzard lift and everything went back to normal, she even got to open the shop to guests.
