The dawn glistened through the window of the quaint study. The books were all over the various work tables instead of on the shelves as they normally were, hence the notes on the back walls of the book shelves so that people knew where they went. The door had been left open ajar so that nobody would wake when anybody had to work at night. The light of day nearly blinding young Rowan as he worked relentlessly on another one of his insane projects, for he decided to take the work bench that was right in front of the big, stain glass window that made the building the landmark it had become. The door opens a little and a teenaged girl walked into the room.
"Goodmorn-" She started, but quickly changed her thought process when she saw him trying and failing to see in the glaring light. "Brother... did you pull another all-nighter?" She asked scoldingly, trying to hide how worried she is of him. "You know how much a lack of sleep can toll on someone..."
"If you absolutely have to ask, yes." Rowan replied, in his usual 'I'm trying to sound important but am to tired to really care' voice. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, glancing at the chemistry kit he had out. "And before you ask, no it probably isn't really all that important." She sighed at this and buried her face into his back.
"Fine, I'll bite... then tell me what crazy invention your trying to make now..." She begrudgingly asked, somewhat scared to find out.
"Simple, I'm trying to make an acidic potion of sorts that can dissolve any runic markings that a person might have." Rowan told her proudly, although a deep yawn shattered his proud voice before he can continue. His sister took this opportunity to mock him a little.
"But brother, aren't you a rune master? Why would you want to create something that can screw you over?" She asked innocently, although he can tell the slight teasing intentions.
"That way I can screw over other rune masters who try and attack me." Rowan answered, completely oblivious to the fact that it could render him practically defenseless. She giggled a little at this and let go of him. "Anyways, did you sleep well?" He asked, taking his eyes off of his work at just the wrong time. Right as he turned he poured a liquid into the beaker he had been compiling different things with and it all melted through.
"Well, there's your acidic potion. Why not just use actual alchemy instead of the chemistry set you got there?" She asked, giving him a weird look as she walked over to pick up some of the books. "By the way, you really need to stop leaving these out. It's getting annoying to pick up after you..." She added on, the mentioned annoyance in her voice.
"Too acidic... and I'm taking chemistry in this one so that I can learn how to make it!" He happily called out. "And besides, in order to become a sage I have to learn both sides of the coin. Both magic and science." He reminded her, ignoring her comment on the books entirely.
"Well can you at least clean that up and then take a break? I bet that you probably haven't eaten since the inevitable midnight snack." She teased. She always teased him for his all night invention sessions, as he came to call him. If she wasn't his sister he probably would be less accepting of it, but family is family in his eyes.
"Sure thing! Doubt I can really convince you to let me do anything else anyways." He happily teased her. Despite already being in his early twenties, she still treated him like a child. Sometimes she was the more mature one, while other times she was just the person that kept him from overworking himself. Sometimes she is the reason why he's still alive, and they both realized this. She never really wanted to get a real job anyways, she was happy being his assistant. After all her pay was in knowledge, and they lived happily off the same low income. After cleaning up his little mess he made his way over to a corner of the building where they made their home. It was small, and could just barely fit them to be honest, but they loved it there. It was close to where they worked, and it gave them an excuse to be near each other at all times. She had prepared a heartful breakfast for them. On your planet you could say it was ham, eggs, and orange juice, but it came by a different name there. Well... eggs were still called eggs... but you get the point. This was his favorite breakfast, which was good because it's the only one she ever really made. They were very poor, so they were thankful for everything they owned. Course, the main reason behind this is that Rowan was known for being a little clumsy with his experiments. And since it was always at his work station it came strait out of his, as you would call it, paycheck.
"It's all I could find, I hope you like it." She always told him this, since it was the raw truth. It was really all they could muster up, since it was always dirt cheap. Then again, it was the time of year where the fruits would be on sale because they were losing their quality.
"Well if it was anything like last time, then I'm sure it'll be great!" Rowan always told her this to keep her hopes up. And he really liked it too; is the thing. He was always good at finding the bright side in things, even if they seemed bleak. Everyone loved that talent in him, at it made him a little famous in the small town they called home. Survira, home of Rowan Rookchester. Well that's what it would say in a few years, but right now he was more of a small town celebrity I guess you could put it. The two sat down and ate together as they always did, sharing predictions as to how the day might go. This is something they always do, simply for fun. Most the time they were wrong, but on occasion they got some parts right.
"I bet someone from one of the bigger cities will come into town!"
"Sis... don't be silly. Like anyone would-" Rowan was cut off by a knocking at the door. "I'll get it." He walked over to the door and opened it. A larger man stood in the door way and was staring down at him. The man looked very professional, but almost a little too professional. Rowan noticed a sword hiding under the man's cloak, and decided to be very respectful so as to not cause too much tension.
"Is there a girl by the name of Guenevere Rookchester here?" The man asked in a deep, intimidating tone. Rowan whistled and motioned for his sister to come to the door, and she quickly walked towards him. "So you're the girl that he was speaking of. Which makes you Rowan Rookchester, correct?" He asked. They both just nodded and stared suspiciously at him. "Then in that case I need you both to come with me. The Grand Chalstiel has summoned you two." The Chalstiel are a religious group that has been studying the runes for quite some time, and the Grand Chalstiel is known to summon random rune masters to put them through crazy trials to test the power of the runes.
"Alright. Just let us pack our stuff." Rowan said, slowly closing the door. One hour, he heard. That would be more then enough time, since most of the stuff there wasn't even his anyways. He and Gwen packed all of their belongings and made for the carriage that the man waited for them by.
"Well brother, looks like I was right." Gwen playfully chimed in as they entered the carriage. Rowan just shrugged it off with a simple "Guess so," and followed in after her. This was going to be a long day, he thought to himself. But at least it'll be an interesting one.







