Kellan's impassive face flickered away for a moment as he considered. Certainly, not servant had found him yet. As the head of the household, the "Lord" as others would call him, he didn't really have anything to do outside of fulfilling their mother's wishes. Since no servant had come to give him orders yet, he was essentially free, he reasoned.

"Alright." Kellan responded lightly. He walked breezily towards the library while casting a curious sidelong glance glance behind him. Kellan ignored the terrible clicking of the marble foyer underneath his shoes.

Jei headed for the library with Kellan, smiling softly when the mask fell feom his brothers face. He definitely preferred 'Kell' over 'Lord'.

When they reached the library, he headed for the little room at the back that hos tutors used for their lessons with him and his siblings, to get his books, while he let Kellan go find them somewhere to sit.

Kellan looked around the library, smiling as he remembered his younger days. Back then, he'd plague his tutors whenever they came. He was a difficult child, he thought, reflecting fondly back on the memory.

Kellan walked to a spot by the windows where the high sun caught on little dust flecks as they fell in throes in the empty air. Pulling out a chair, he sat, waiting for Jei to get his books. He wondered curiously what subjects they'd be.

Kellan wasn't left waiting long, asJei came scurrying around the corner shortly after he sat. in his arms were his politics and history books- two of the most boring subjects imaginable.

It used to be only the eldest son needed to study politics thoroughly... But after what had happened to their father and brother, their mum and tutors had agreed it best for all the children to be taught everything, instead of just the basics.

History, and politics. Kellan grinned. It was nice not being the only one who had to suffer through those topics. His smile grew slightly morose as he thought about how the two eldest males of the family had died. Well, Kellan thought, Serra was probably happy about learning everything.

Kellan waited for Jei to sit down, wondering how he could make history and politics interesting.

Setting hos books down between then, Jei took the chair next to Kellan. "Nothing's making any sense..." He whined, giving his brother the puppydog eyes and pout, begging him to explain it. Kellan had a gift for simplifying all the information into a way for Jei to better remember it.

Kellan laughed, then looked at the overwhelming stack of books in front of him. "Well," he said, "How about we start with what you do know, then build off from there?"

"Um..." He flushed slightly, lifting a hand to scratch the back of his neck nervously. "Maybe we better start at the beginning, then..?" He suggested, not really wanting to admit that he didn't pay much attention to these two particular subjects.

Kellan thought for a moment, and picked up a history book, "How about we start with history then?"

Kellan flipped to the beginning of the book, reading a little to refresh his memory. "Once upon a time," he began, for he believed that history was little different from bedtime stories.


((Uhh, should I just make up history :o?))

((Sure... Make it seem believable. There is slight magical ability in this world, most of it having been bred out of existence... there used to be many, though now it's rare.))

Jei shifted a little, getting himself comfy for story time. He much preferred Kellan's way of telling history to the tutor's monotone lectures that quite often put him into a restless doze.

Once upon a time, a long time ago, when the land was all green and the forests all lush, the people lived as many tribes. They traversed the land, following deer and buffalo, with nothing to aid them but their will and their magic.

Here Kellan paused, letting the first part sink in.


((I'm having trouble thinking up history so I might not post for a bit ^^;;))

((Feel free to take snippets from books/movies... Just not the entire plot :P))

Jei smiled softly, eyes shutting, the history of their country forming images in his mind as his brother read.

The tribes were scattered far and wide across the lands. Some lived in the forests, some lived in the plains. There were tribes in the blowing deserts and there were tribes in the icy arctics.

Those who lived in the forests would often use their magic to search for deer to hunt and to conjure water to drink. Those who lived in the plains would play often play with the wind. The ones in the deserts conjured miniature clouds from the moisture in the air, and those in the arctics created fires with the snap of a finger.
Those were the days, when people were connected to nature.

But then, things changed. One day, a child was born without magic. Some say his name was Bramble, for the blood splattered leaves of Autumn. Others say, his name was Fallen Leaf, for bringing on the Change. Others still, will say his name was Goat, for being the scapegoat blamed for the natural progression to a magic-less world.

Regardless, the boy was very special. When he was born to the tribe of Blowing Deserts, he was the most ambitious of them all. A fire blazed in his eyes always, despite being the weakest of the entire tribe, and the least in tune with nature.

Kellan flipped through the book some more, his eyes growing distant. It always made him wistful, thinking of how the past changed so drastically to the present.

Jei shifted slightly, moving his chair closer to Kellan's leaning against him slightly as he was read to.

(Not sure what else to post while he's being read to... Hope you don't mind my short posts. They won't last forever- promise)

((I don't mind ^^. I'm just stopping when I run out of ideas))

Kellan absently ruffled Jei's hair. Then pinched the bridge of his nose and returned to look over what was next.

One day, when the boy was ten years old, he was searching for snake eggs in the desert when he bumped into an old shaman. The shaman had a perpetual fire floating around him, and he radiated an aura of menace.

"Boy," he had hissed to the boy, "Where do you think you're going?"

The boy looked boldly at the shaman, for he felt no danger from the elements, as he was not in tune with any of it. "I'm going to find snake eggs to eat." Said the boy, his eyes blazing with inner fire.

The shaman laughed. It was a harsh, hollow laugh. Like the desert that they were in. "Well, boy, don't you think you could accomplish greater things?"

"Greater things?" The boy echoed, interested. The ambition in his eyes, some say, lit up the atmosphere around him. A twinge of magic, so faint it was almost not there, some say.

"Yess," The shaman hissed hypnotically. And he tempted the boy.

The boy was given a stone of great import, with which he gathered the magic in the air. The magic, paired with his ambition, led him to grow a large tribe of followers.

Soon, the boy had conquered all the desert, and he had many affairs with the people of his tribe. The boy, now a man, had children both of strong and weaker magic, though none of them were nearly as magic-less as he. But their blood had been diluted, and now the recessive gene for magic was born in them.

The man, growing older, conquered and conquered. He shed tears over his lost spouses, he cried when his army died. He blazed across the arctics, he stormed over the forests. He blew across the plains like a force of nature. At the end of his years, he looked over all that he conquered and cried, for though he had created a proud tribe, he had done nothing but destroy beauty in his life.

The shaman had long since died. The boy, the man, the old man, they cried for what they had done before they died. A great funeral was given to them, and all the people mourned.

Yet the tribe of all tribes remained. And they were so big, yet so disjointed with the loss of their great leader, they scattered and broke apart into the four corners of the world.

As time passed, those who had less magic always grew stronger with ambition. They subjugated those without magic to burnings and to trials that only led to death. The people with magic accepted their fate and returned to the mother Earth.

Eventually, magic disappeared from existence, except for the few pockets where those who had it practiced in secret.

Over time, kingdoms rose and kingdoms fell.

The McKarthy family came from a forest tribe where the forests were lush and full of deer. But the tribe was was conquered during the Great Autumn, as some would call it. When the Great Tribe broke apart, they broke apart from the tribe and carved out a place for themselves in the forests. But, just like the rest of the world, the magic-less hated those with magic. Eventually, we were left with nothing but the stones of petrified Earth. And so is the story the same for every other family, except the very few secret families who we don't come into contact with.

Kellan set the history book down with a sigh.

Jei frowned lightly, sitting back up when Kellan finished the 'story'. "So, our family used to have magic?" He asked Kellan, rather intrigued with the idea. If they had a latent ability, the recessive gene, could it be awoken?

Kellan nodded, "Once upon a time, everyone had magic."

He put a hand on his chin as he leaned forward, "It's an odd thing, magic. I don't suppose I'd know it even if I saw it."

"Are there records of how far back magic was last seen in our line?" He asked, curious. "And I suppose it would be hard to tell what is and isn't magic now... An expert hunter and tracker might just be well-trained, or they might have some magical ability... Sailors might be experienced and know what theyre doing, or they might have some influence over the skies or seas..."

Kellan put a hand on his chin, pondering on what Jei said. "Maybe," he began, "maybe there's something in this library. We've got records, probably."

He didn't know if magic really existed, or if people who knew how to use magic knew they were doing magic. After all, most of the McKarthy family led rather drab, sheltered, society lives.

Jei pondered the idea a bit, growing more and more curious. He got up, taking Kellan's hand, and dragged him over to the history section of their library. "Guess we'd better get looking..."

Kellan followed Jei towards the history section of their library, grinning. Jei was making the history story exceptionally fun. Usually, to Kellan, history was simply history, not something that affected him. He wondered too, somewhat curious, as to whether his bloodline had magic or not.

Jei looked over the titles of the books, occasionally pulling one out to flip through before either putting it back, or setting it aside to take back to their table. Quickly the pile grew past what the two boys could carry on their own. "Perhaps we should get a cart?" Jei suggested.

Kellan raised an eyebrow, "A cart?" He repeated. He walked over to a rolling flat utility cart that their tutors sometime used when they had too much to carry. He took the textbooks, charts, and potted plants off before rolling it out into the history aisle, "Alright, we can add as many books as we want to this today." He said, grinning, "Since our tutors aren't going to be here to know a thing."

Jei laughed softly, watching his brother clear things off of a nearby cart for them to use. He nodded, and loaded his pile of books onto the cart, before going to look for more.

The sun left its peak and started downwards as the two boys scraped out history books from the bowels of the library.

As Kellan was headed back to the table, a curious book fell down besides him. It was made of black leather, with gold thread weaved in flame-like patterns. Curious, Kellan picked up the book and cracked it open.

"There was a boy," the book began in curvy, old script. Kellan closed the book. He didn't know the library had old books like this.


((I don't really know what to do about lulls and peace times. Do you normally continue it into something, I dunno, just nice and peaceful?))

((We can...have them get through some research, before getting interrupted by someone- likely a servant, come to drag them to dinner, or give Kell some order from their mother, or something.))

Jei was already sat at the table, several books spread out, open, before him. He looked up as Kellan approached, smiling softly, before going back to the books, skimming through each. Every once in a while he'd pause, scribbling something or other onto a piece of parchment.

Kellan approached the table and ruffled Jei's hair. It was nice seeing Jei interested in history, he thought.

Kellan sat down at the table and opened a few books on the McKarthy history. Each started at a different date. Magic-less. How far back did the McKarthy family go?

Jei gave a little whine, half-heartedly swatting Kellan's hand away. "Stop that..." He mumbled, not looking up from his books.

There had to be something, anything, to hint at their line having some sort of power... After all, the text did say they were decsended from magic-users, right? Surely their line couldn't be completely powerless...

Kellan cracked open the curious book.

There was a boy, who went without magic. But not really. It was his ambition that blocked out his magic. For magic didn't mesh with ambition. You see, if you could do so much with magic, what was the point of ambition?

Kellan set the book aside for later and placed the books he opened aside as well. He opened another book, wondering when he'd find a lead specific to his family.

Jei scratched down another name and some dates, frowning slightly. Still nothing... Unless... "Kell, do we have a family tree somewhere?" He asked, curious. Their family seemed to have a history of being anti-magic, and there were a number of unexplained deaths or disappearances, more appearing the further back he looked. He wanted to check some of these names out.

"A family tree?" Kellan thought for a while. He remembered hearing his parents muttering something about that on the night of the fire.

"Chances are," began Kellan hesitatingly, "Some people may have been erased from any official tree." He looked at the books he set aside. "These are family records organized chronologically."

Jei frowned a bit, but grabbed the books, looking through for the correct dates. Growling softly, he snapped one book after another shut, not finding anything more han what he already new. "Nothing... These books are useless. None of them give details on any of these 'unexplainable' deaths or disappearances..." He shoved the books aside roughly, his head dropping to the table with a thud. He was quiet for a moment, before looking up at his brother. "You don't think they could've had magic, and been killed off secretly, do you?"

Kellan watched as Jei flipped through the pages. He seemed rather distressed.

"Unexplainable deaths and disappearances?" He asked, "Where did you find that?" Then he paused and thought for a moment, "I think that's a possibility."
He wondered if father or Theroen were missing from the family register at all.

Jeisyn pushed his list towards Kellan. "Names and birthdates, with no other mention of them anywhere, or the person in question dying mysteriously, no cause, at a relatively young age... Most between infancy and their mid twenties..." He said, flipping through another text absently, looking for any reference to a certain name or date, coming up empty-handed once more.

Kellan clasped his hands and leaned down, confused. It seemed like the family might actually have some secrets.

By now, the sunlight was slowly lessening, falling even lower from the peak of the sky.
Kellan frowned, "Mid twenties? Does the register say anything about Theroen?"

Jei frowned, searching a stack of books for the most recent register. Finding it, he flipped to the last updated page, scanning for his brother's name. "Theroen Darius McKarthy... Birthdate... Deathdate... Ah, cause of death, smoke inhalation and severe burns to more than half of his body, including the majority of his face and scalp..." He frowned, pursing his lips slightly. "Nothing we didn't already know..."

Kellan nodded, relieved of his sneaking suspicion. So the fire that night was most likely unrelated.

"Has any mysterious death occurred recently?" Kellan asked. Maybe someone might know the person who died. It wasn't much, but it was something.

He browsed through the tome quickly, going back a few pages, and shook his head. "There was a younger uncle of Father's that went to fight in the war and never returned, alive or dead... And apparently father had a younger sister that died of a mysterious illness as a child... But other than that..." He shook his head. Nothing else in recent generations that could be seen as suspicious. "We still don't know how the fire started, either, though... It could have been foul play, aimed at any one of us..."

Kellan sighed, "It's odd though. Why are there that many mysterious deaths?" He paused. "If they were because of magic, then there's obviously a lot of traces of magic leftover in the bloodline."

Jei shrugged slightly. "Who knows? Most of the older mysteries could have been illness overlooked, or just accidents, or undocumented kidnappings, or someone running off to get married to someone the family would otherwise not allow... Or they could have been sent away, a secret shame to their family... Some coverup of a scandal..." He shrugged. "Or they could have been magical, and killed off out of fear.