THE MOMENT
"Starla? What's up?" Dara was surprised to find her sister, Monday, talking to the cow when she arrived at the apartment.
"Oh, quite a bit!" Starla replied with an enthusiastic tone. "But, I'll let your sister explain her plan. I've got work to do," she nodded with a curt motion, as curt as a cow could manage, and a translucent golden visor appeared across her head, covering both eyes. She turned her wide body around and focused on a closed door as Dara watched with mild amusement. She didn't know why Starla was there, but she'd get that answer soon.
"Over here," Monday guided Dara into the kitchen toward the sink. Before she did anything, she held her hand out. "Sharp Girls only...," she said. "...and Starla," she added with a smile.
"Sharp Girls only...," Dara agreed to the secret and shook Monday's hand.
"Not even mom...," Monday added after the fact, which made Dara narrow her eyes, but she affirmed her agreement with a nod. Monday wasn't the type to handle secrets lightly. If she insisted on it, there was a reason.
"So... take a look...," Monday reached over and turned on the kitchen faucet. In an instant, rainbow liquid rushed out as easily as water. Dara took two steps back with her eyes wide, and the concerned movement made Monday shut the water off again.
"That's... magic...," Dara easily identified what had taken Starla days to figure out. Although, in fairness, Starla was more technologically inclined, and she was studying it from the wrong angles. "Completely raw... pure magic...," Dara appraised the small white and red kitchen to try and determine a source, and her eyes landed on the closed door Starla was studying. It was on the same wall as the sink, and she knew the apartment complex belonged to Sharp Development, her mother's company. "Is that from a dungeon?" she asked. Monday nodded.
"There was a glitch; we can't open it to get in," Monday explained. "Once Starla figured out it was magic, you were the obvious choice."
"I want to try something," Dara said. Monday nodded, and Dara walked closer to the sink.
"Shadow Magic?" Monday asked as a pitch-black orb of darkness gathered in Dara's hand.
"Yeah, I picked up Umbromancy...," Dara laughed and rolled her eyes. "It was stupid easy." She held the black orb under the faucet and quickly opened and closed the handle. A single splash of rainbow liquid dissolved the gathered shadows and washed them off her hand. "Whoa." Again, her eyes went wide.
“Whoa, what?” Monday asked. “Magic cancels out other magic, right?” She'd seen what happened, but didn't understand enough to distinguish anything unusual.
“Not like that…,” Dara shook her head. She gathered a ball of fire in her hand and released another splash of rainbow water. It didn't even hiss and release steam; it simply stopped being fire and was washed away. Monday knew how water and fire were supposed to act, and she could now see the unnaturalness that surprised Dara. "I gotta find out more..." Dara grinned. Monday nodded and gestured at Starla, still trying to get the door to open.
"As soon as we can get in," Monday reminded Dara why she was there to begin with.
"I'm on board," Dara nodded enthusiastically as they approached Starla again.
"Did I hear you say Umbromancy was easy?" Starla asked with a curious bovine smile. She'd never been particularly interested in Magic, but if it was something easy to pick up, that might change her mind.
"Well, probably not for everyone," Dara nodded. "To teach you umbromancy, you don't get any textbooks or lectures. No, your master locks you in a dark, lonely cave and doesn't let you out until the shadows start speaking to you," she said.
"That was easy?" Starla asked. Dara winked.
"Well, it turns out 'the whispering shadows' are just Ballisea," she said. "I asked her, and she taught me how to use it."
"Oh," Starla replied. "I don't think I'm that interested."