THE MOMENT
"Unknown reasons?" Dara asked. "You can get away with that?" She and her sister, Rhapsody, were walking through a quiet neighborhood on a warm, breezy evening. Dara was leading the way, although she didn't know to where exactly. And, the two of them carried on a conversation as Rhapsody followed by her side.
"Probably not...," Rhapsody shook her head with a nervous giggle. "It's just kind of my panic plan if Mom starts asking questions. I'm hoping she doesn't. But, if she does, I only need to stall her out for a couple of weeks.
"And you're just gonna say, 'I don't know where the sword is. It seems to have disappeared for unknown reasons'?" Dara laughed.
"If she doesn't notice its missing, I win. If she notices and grounds me until I confess, I win," Rhapsody shrugged.
"Well, good luck," Dara patted her sister on the shoulder. "If anyone asks, I don't know anything, and you're on your own."
"Thank you," Rhapsody nodded. It was sincere gratitude. Not only was Dara saying she wasn't going to report anything to their mother; she was also giving Rhapsody her permission to do whatever she needed to.
"This is the place...," Dara said as she came to a stop in front of a two-story home. She had a talent for magic that Rhapsody didn't. "... the magic you described is in there... but what is it?"
Dara was very knowledgeable about magic and she hoped to be able to deduce what her sister was after by the time they found it. But, aside from a unique patterning, it felt like normal, almost boring magic.
"Can you neutralize it from here?" Rhapsody asked. Dara nodded.
"Do it please," she said. "The society in this world is dependent on the few magic users that are born every year...," Rhapsody started to explain as Dara began dismantling the magic they found. She pointed at the house as she continued. "One mage has invented a way for everyone to be a magic user. But, that completely undermines the society we've set up."
"And that's it? You're just going to take it away?" Dara asked while she finished taking it away. In seconds, she was done. And commoners could no longer learn magic the way the lone mage created. "You didn't need me for this, did you?"
"I needed to tell you about La Espada," Rhapsody nodded. "But, I knew you could get it done faster than if I'd put someone on it."
"Oh, okay," Dara nodded with a smile. "I hope we got rid of it before too many people tried it out. Can't have them ruining society," she giggled.
"No one tried it, but I wanted to get rid of it anyway, just to kind of make sure. The inventor will forget about it soon and it won't be an issue again."
"Wait, why didn't anyone try it?" Dara asked. She was deeply interested in magic and she couldn't quite grasp someone not jumping at the chance to learn it. "Are you sure?"
"We're sure," Rhapsody nodded with a smile. "If you ask them, not even the people rejecting the magic know why. Of course, if you ask Sharp Development; the answer is, because we didn't want them to."