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Description
The first spell Lupita 'Lupe' Monte learned was extinguishing the candles on her birthday cake. With the click of her fingers she snuffed out all seven flames at once. Her father was pleased, her mother merely frowned. This lead Lupe to the only possible conclusion. Clearly her mother had seen much more impressive magic!

Most folk have the potential for magic, but few have the will. It takes more effort to channel the mental energy needed to levitate a book in the air than it does to physically hold the thing. So much knowledge and practice are required that few bother to learn the art, like Lupe's older siblings. Lupe herself found not the art difficult, but the act of impressing her mother with it. Her sister could dance to applause and her brother could box to cheers, but Lupe's magic-puppet tea-party evoked nothing but a nervous cough and a nod. After exhausting all the spells her father could teach her without him breaking Magi Law, Lupe was stuck for ideas.

Then one day she found the medallion. Walking home from school Lupe sensed something to her side, off the path and down by the stream. Covered in mud among the pebbles was a bronze medal on a chain with an engraving of a bird on the surface. It was a conduit, a device meant to cast and amplify a certain spell provided you channel into it. Excited, Lupe took the medal home and tinkered with it long after bed-time.

Lupe's mother would have slept in that morning, the rest of the family being away on a trip, only for her youngest daughter to barge in and announce a really cool spell she'd learnt. Lupe proudly held up a medal which radiated a field of dark magic. Her hands inside the radius shifted into talons and sprouted night-coloured feathers. When she drew close the same feathers sprung from her mother's hands.
'Mum! I managed to make this work all by myself. It's something you've never seen before, transformation magic! Are you impressed yet?'
Her mother was not impressed. She laid a talon on the medal and gently slipped it from Lupe's grasp. Immediately both their digits softened into fingers and feathers receded into skin.
'Where did you get this? Have you been sneaking into your father's study?'
Lupe shook her head.
'No! I found it by myself by the river. It's harmless, see?'
Lupe tapped the medal with her finger, proving it useless without magic. But her mother was unconvinced.
'What would happen if you turned into a harpy, Lupita? Would you eat worms for lunch like how your brother pretends to?'
'It's not a djinn, mum. The change goes away when you stop channeling.'
Not a djinn. The words struck a chord with the woman, who rolled her concern away with a sigh.
'Lupita, if you found a wish-granting djinn by the river instead, would you have used it?'
'No way, dad says those things are dangerous.'
'That's right. So might this medal you found. I'll let your father hold onto this and maybe, if you're good, he'll craft a special conduit when you turn nine soon.'
Lupe was happy with this arrangement and forgot about the medal soon after.

Her mother gave one last look at the conduit. Holding it close to her face while looking into her mirror, she channeled into the bronze relic. Her mouth and nose curved into a beak, her blue eyes turned black, and her fair skin was buried under dark feathers. The bird-faced woman thought to herself on seeing her reflection. So many paths I could have taken all those years ago. I could have left the city when I was fired. I could have turned down his charity. I could have passed up on buying that djinn. So many times I could have said 'No'. But where would I be then? Would I still be happy?

A crash of porcelain came from the kitchen below. The sound jolted her out of her thoughts and her bird-features vanished the instant she stopped channeling. No doubt Lupe had faltered when levitating a plate. Sighing again, this time out of resigned affection, she shoved the medal in a nearby drawer and made her way down to the kitchen. She wasn't going to enjoy badgering her young mage into cleaning up her latest mess, but she couldn't help cracking a smile all the same.

*

Commission drawn by Fokk3rs .

Description
The first spell Lupita 'Lupe' Monte learned was extinguishing the candles on her birthday cake. With the click of her fingers she snuffed out all seven flames at once. Her father was pleased, her mother merely frowned. This lead Lupe to the only possible conclusion. Clearly her mother had seen much more impressive magic!

Most folk have the potential for magic, but few have the will. It takes more effort to channel the mental energy needed to levitate a book in the air than it does to physically hold the thing. So much knowledge and practice are required that few bother to learn the art, like Lupe's older siblings. Lupe herself found not the art difficult, but the act of impressing her mother with it. Her sister could dance to applause and her brother could box to cheers, but Lupe's magic-puppet tea-party evoked nothing but a nervous cough and a nod. After exhausting all the spells her father could teach her without him breaking Magi Law, Lupe was stuck for ideas.

Then one day she found the medallion. Walking home from school Lupe sensed something to her side, off the path and down by the stream. Covered in mud among the pebbles was a bronze medal on a chain with an engraving of a bird on the surface. It was a conduit, a device meant to cast and amplify a certain spell provided you channel into it. Excited, Lupe took the medal home and tinkered with it long after bed-time.

Lupe's mother would have slept in that morning, the rest of the family being away on a trip, only for her youngest daughter to barge in and announce a really cool spell she'd learnt. Lupe proudly held up a medal which radiated a field of dark magic. Her hands inside the radius shifted into talons and sprouted night-coloured feathers. When she drew close the same feathers sprung from her mother's hands.
'Mum! I managed to make this work all by myself. It's something you've never seen before, transformation magic! Are you impressed yet?'
Her mother was not impressed. She laid a talon on the medal and gently slipped it from Lupe's grasp. Immediately both their digits softened into fingers and feathers receded into skin.
'Where did you get this? Have you been sneaking into your father's study?'
Lupe shook her head.
'No! I found it by myself by the river. It's harmless, see?'
Lupe tapped the medal with her finger, proving it useless without magic. But her mother was unconvinced.
'What would happen if you turned into a harpy, Lupita? Would you eat worms for lunch like how your brother pretends to?'
'It's not a djinn, mum. The change goes away when you stop channeling.'
Not a djinn. The words struck a chord with the woman, who rolled her concern away with a sigh.
'Lupita, if you found a wish-granting djinn by the river instead, would you have used it?'
'No way, dad says those things are dangerous.'
'That's right. So might this medal you found. I'll let your father hold onto this and maybe, if you're good, he'll craft a special conduit when you turn nine soon.'
Lupe was happy with this arrangement and forgot about the medal soon after.

Her mother gave one last look at the conduit. Holding it close to her face while looking into her mirror, she channeled into the bronze relic. Her mouth and nose curved into a beak, her blue eyes turned black, and her fair skin was buried under dark feathers. The bird-faced woman thought to herself on seeing her reflection. So many paths I could have taken all those years ago. I could have left the city when I was fired. I could have turned down his charity. I could have passed up on buying that djinn. So many times I could have said 'No'. But where would I be then? Would I still be happy?

A crash of porcelain came from the kitchen below. The sound jolted her out of her thoughts and her bird-features vanished the instant she stopped channeling. No doubt Lupe had faltered when levitating a plate. Sighing again, this time out of resigned affection, she shoved the medal in a nearby drawer and made her way down to the kitchen. She wasn't going to enjoy badgering her young mage into cleaning up her latest mess, but she couldn't help cracking a smile all the same.

*

Commission drawn by Fokk3rs .