The magic pen

 Part 4: The Inkless Page

Years after Eliot's passing, Lira had become a beloved teacher and guardian of the magic school. Her golden-threaded quill—once Eliot’s—still carried the spark of magic, but now, it responded only to those with true intent and honest hearts.

One morning, a mysterious stranger arrived at the gates. He was cloaked in midnight blue, with eyes like mirrors that reflected everything and revealed nothing.

“I have no name,” he said. “I come seeking the pen.”

Lira studied him carefully. “Why do you want it?”

“To rewrite the world,” he said. “To make it perfect.”

His voice was calm, but Lira sensed something cold beneath it.

“Perfection isn’t always kindness,” she replied. “What would you erase to make the world perfect?”

The stranger didn’t answer. Instead, he held out a blank book with shimmering pages.

“Use the pen,” he said. “Write a single word. And I will show you what I can do.”

Curious but cautious, Lira dipped the pen and wrote a single word: “Hope.”

The page pulsed. The school around them vanished. In its place stood a shining city of glass towers, silent and spotless. But the air was empty, and there were no children, no laughter—just order. The stranger smiled.

“See? No pain. No chaos.”

Lira turned to him, tears in her eyes. “But no joy. No love. No life.”

She held the pen tightly and whispered, “This is not hope.”

She slashed a line across the page—and suddenly, the illusion shattered like a mirror. The school returned. The children ran through the halls. The stranger was gone, as if he had never been.

That night, Lira wrote a letter and placed it inside the book Eliot once owned. She sealed it with ink from the magic pen.

To the one who finds this next:

The pen is powerful, but it only writes what lives in your heart. Do not seek to change the world before you understand it. Do not fear imperfection—it is where magic begins.

Draw with wonder. Dream with care.

And always, always choose love.

The next morning, the book was gone.

But in a village far away, a young orphan named Kai found a glowing feather in a field of wildflowers.

And the story began again.

The end… for now.