A bright grin spread over the little girl’s lips. SHe was doing pretty good! She had to admit the six little flower buds now growing in front of her proved that she could do it. But that didn’t mean that she was good enough to really show it off yet. Spotty magic use was no reason to show others. Of course it was amazing that she could actually do it, but there was still the fact that she needed to be better at it for her to be willing to show others. She wanted to be better at it, she wanted to be like the Aristotle that everyone seemed to adore. She wanted everyone to look at her with the adoration and love they had when they spoke of their father. She wanted to make them happy that a piece of him was still with them.

The little girl knelt down and stared at the little buds. They were very pretty, and she couldn’t wait for them to actually bloom in the next day or two. Not that then she could claim she had grown them, but she would know. Oh yes she would know that those little flowers had been grown by her. The little lioness let out a soft meowing sound as she softly exhaled on the little flower buds, making them waver in the gentle wind. She wanted to keep going. So she would, until she was tired. Of course she had just woken up from a nap so she wasn’t sure how long she would be able to keep going, but she wanted to know whether it made her tired or not. However Big brother Sun had warned her that there was the possibility of dying if she used too much magic, though she didn’t truly have a grasp on what that meant she knew it wasn’t a good thing the way that big brother talked about it.

The little girl tilted her head a light smile on her muzzle as she admired the six little buds. They were going to be so pretty when they bloomed. She honestly couldn’t wait and was super excited to see them. After all they were the first flowers she had ever grown with her magic. Finally the little girl straightened up once more. She was going to keep trying. The little girl closed her eyes leaving her paw where it was. She took a deep breath and began to dig for that brilliant green colored magic that was deep inside her. This time her magic didn’t come to her as easily really much at all. In fact it was more effort to dig for her magic than it was to use it. It seemed that perhaps her magic wasn’t going to succeed as often as she would like or as easily as she would have liked. However it did come and once it did, it came in a warm wave flowing down her leg and into the ground where another this time orange bud wormed its way up beside her paw.

Adonia purred letting out a heavy sigh. She was beginning to get tired. SHe wasn’t mentally tired, or felt the need to sleep. But her body ached and told her she was actually doing something with her body. It told her that her magic was finite and that she would have a limit she would eventually reach. Bright blue eyes gazed down at the brilliant new orange flower bud. It fit in well with the others, they almost seemed to be making a rainbow of colors with eac new one that came up. She couldn’t help but wonder what kind of flowers each of them were. Maybe one day she would be good enough like her father to know these things.

For a moment Adonia stopped with her rounded ears listening to the voices downstairs. She could hear Amaryllis talking fervently about something to Comet. Adonia strained to listen for a moment catching something about how excited they always were to see her and Renny. The little girl smiled and nodded in agreement. She adored Renny, he really was nice and caring. But Big sister Comet, she was in a league all her own. She absolutely loved Comet and everything about her. She was her role model, the one gembound she looked up to most.

Turning her attention bacon to what she had been doing, the little lioness cub flexed her small paws beside the patch of flower buds. Closing her eyes, she looked within herself to once again find that brilliant green magic that seemed to be getting at least a bit more consistent. This time again it seemed to come easily when she searched for it. The brilliant green magic surged down her legs and through her paws into the floor. Again a flower bud grew from the floor, this one another pink.

Adonia slowly opened her eyes, slowly starting to feel the effects of using her magic. She was beginning to tire out however good she felt she was becoming. It was fun to be doing it too. Learning new things about herself was fun. She wondered what else it was she could do. But for now, she knew better than to push herself too hard. After the incident with her father she knew better than to push her magic too hard. She didn’t want the same thing to happen to her. She was learning that the more magic she used the more tired and weak her body felt. So she would take her bodie’s cues, when they got too bad she would stop.

For a moment Adonia sat resting as she looked at the now seven flower buds growing in front of her paws. She wondered just how long she could keep going, she wondered just how hard she should push herself her first time. Adonia tilted her head to one side looking at the seven buds. She contemplated stopping at this point and going and joining her siblings downstairs to listen to Comet’s stories, but she was getting so good at it! She didn’t want to stop now she was getting better at using her magic. Straightening up the little girl nodded to herself. She would keep going for now at least.

Again the little girl closed her eyes and took a deep breath this time. Slowly she looked within herself for that brilliant green colored magic, as she did. It came much slower than the last few times almost as if her magic itself was growing tired. Being rather daring the little girl peeked out through one bright blue eye to notice a soft green glow coming from her forehead as the bud wormed its way up into the cluster of flower buds.

Adonia’s tail waved from side to side thoughtfully as she looked at the now nine buds growing in front of her. But she was more interested in the green glow she had discovered that seems to happen when she used her magic. Crossing her eyes she tried to look at the space where the light had come from, which she assumed to be her gem. After all the light seemed to have come from her forehead where her gem was situated and it didn’t seem to come from any other place. To make sure of this the little lioness cub turned in a circle searching for anything that could possibly have caused the light, but in her search she found nothing and turned back to her plot of nine flower buds.

For a moment Adonia stood looking at the patch of flower buds, she couldn’t have been prouder. Leaning down she sniffed the flowers and smiled, they smelled so fresh. Though they yet to have gained any scent as they hadn’t yet bloomed. She wanted to keep going, and so she would. However this time she was going to keep her eyes open when she used her magic. This time she focused looking inward with her eyes open she searched for that green colored magic. She couldn’t do it with her eyes open and so she resigned to close her eyes for a moment. After closing her eyes she easily found her magic, now she opened her eyes. As she did so she found that brilliant green glow emitting from her forehead once more. As it did a flower bud wiggled up in front of her paw taking its place among the flower bud patch.

A deep sigh left the girl as she sat down for a moment. She looked at the flower buds at her paws and shifted her paws for a second in thought. She wondered if the glow really was coming from her when she used her magic, if only happened when she used her magic. Did it only happen when her magic actually worked or did it just kind of half glow then go out when a spell failed. She wondered if perhaps everyone's gems glowed when they used magic, or if it was just her. Just began to wonder if she were weird, or if something was wrong with her. Was her magic supposed to make her gem glow when she used it?

Taking a deep breath the little lioness stood up and walked back out to the balcony, where she walked along the edge for a moment. The little girl looked out over the clearing as she walked back and forth. For a moment she stood wondering where big brother Sun had gone, and if he was alright. He had been gone for such a long time. In reality it had been about two days. Adonia shook herself and walked back inside the treehouse and over to her patch of buds. For a moment she stood looking at them. SOmething seemed to click within her mind that she needed to rest now, that her body needed to stop for a while and regain its energy.

Letting out a heavy sigh the young lioness turned and slowly walked down to the bottom floor where she took her place among her siblings to listen to Comet. Her absence would not have been noticed as she had napped for an hour and practiced magic for another hour more. Now she would listen to stories and tonight she would sleep so deep she might never wake up. However she smiled inwardly as she thought of the progress she had made with her magic in just that hour of work.

EXIT ADONIA