I created my own system

A night before the festival, the tower was bustling with noise; the reason was they were having a competition on who would come and attend the kid's school festival.

Isabella already secured her spot, so she was very calm and began packing the things she wanted to give to her son and his friends. While she excitedly packed her stuff, a call suddenly interrupted; at first, she was confused about who would call at such an hour.

The communication orb lying on her table softly glows, indicating someone is calling her with her thoughts about her son. Interrupted. She reached for the orb and was surprised to see the caller.

"Apollo" she exclaimed, seeing the familiar set of communication codes that belonged to only one person.

"Did something happen?" She wondered.

Afraid that it was important, she immediately answered it, "Hello, my dear, did something happen?"

She was a bit nervous as she spoke, thinking that a problem could have been the reason for the call.

"Mother just a question I just need you to give me some advice about this"

Those words mean many implications for a moment the young senior mage assumed his son might have his first crush, full of expectation the mother spoke coaxingly to him, "Speak my little sun I will hear you out"

Her reply came smoothly; however, Apollo didn't, "Is he contemplating about something?" She thought so but didn't make any statement to urge her son to speak; instead, she waited.

"Mother"

"Yes?"

"....do you know.."

"Know?"

".. d-do you know how to be pretty"

"...."

".....mother are you still there?"

"Ah?.....ye-yes my dear that is a very complicated question"

All sorts of thoughts run across her head, but she still keeps her word on listening to what Apollo is trying to say. That night, Isabella almost had a heart attack, though fortunately, her son was able to explain why.

.

.

.

On the night of the first day of the festival, everyone gathered up around, and Isabella was filled with worry since she was ambushed with workload directly from the Imperial Palace. Try as she might to come early but due to the amount of papers that had to be handled by her, she was still late. The night already arrived, and she barely found herself inside the academy.

"I wonder where my son is"

Isabella began to worry since she had promised to come, "I hope he isn't mad"

Hurriedly, she rushed to the academy event grounds and immediately spotted a certain figure standing nervously on the stage.

Right after that more segments entered the event until a talent portion was suddenly announced. It was really sudden, but for Apollo, it turns out he didn't even study the event he was going to, earning a facepalm from Alicia.

"I told him to prepare," she mutters as she looks at him, eyes with expectation and concern.

Whereas Apollo's heart pounded as he stood before the microphone. He had no idea what he was going to do; well,l to be exact, he can do many things, but he doesn't know whether it is appropriate to be used in an event like this. The other contestants had showcased impressive talents—dancing, simple magic tricks, even sword dance.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"What's your talent?" the announcer asked, smiling expectantly.

Apollo wondered. Then, from the depths of his mind, a single, horrifying thought emerged.

"I'll… sing," he blurted out wanting to try something new.

The audience erupted in cheers, oblivious to the fact that Apollo's singing voice was less than stellar.

Taking a deep breath, Apollo opened his mouth and began to sing. Suddenly, the crowd went silent while his classmates remained, staying among the crowd supporting him.

"I am getting nervous," Blair mumbled; he was getting anxious, especially when he remembered how Apollo almost hit the floor face-first earlier.

However, his unstable emotion slowly morphs into relief as he hears a soft and melodic voice. Among the dazzling light that illuminated the stage a single silhouette was standing. That individual wore a dress similar to a princess while curly red-orange hair decorated the head. The light on the stage projected a lone figure that slowly engulfed the crowd with a calming voice.

"Is that.." Braiden began to recognize the song while McKenzie had his mouth hanging due to amazement.

Your next journey awaits at empire

"It's a lullaby," Vesta recognized; what Apollo was singing was a popular song mothers often use to put their children to sleep.

~The moon has come my little one

Close your eyes and let your dreams guide you

The night arrives, it is time to rest

And put your worries behind you~

~Oh Sweet little dreams

They have come for you

Now close your eyes and forget the day

Let my warmth embrace you

Has the stars shine brighter, they will guide you

Apollo continue to sing, his voice surrounded with sadness despite the song being for children. The lullaby was heard, and his voice, being the only thing you could hear, made the atmosphere painful and sad. Some people from the audience even questioned if the song indeed sounded that way.

Apollo sang another verse, yet to everyone's surprise, it was different.

"Did Apollo add more verses to the song?" Blair asked while Vesta could only nod at his question.

~I had always dreamed of a brilliant light

However Mother I was guided by you

In my darkest hour

The pain the sadness I always have

Slowly melted upon falling in your arms

~ Mother what I have become now

Was I able to satisfy you

Was my dream the star you sing to

I wanna know, for my world started with you

The audience felt even more conflicted as the verse switched to the child's point of view. The words even hinted the traces of adulthood, as if the speaker is asking if he had done well in the eyes of his parent. Was it disappointing? Or was it something that reached their expectations? A mother can become your most brilliant light but could only leave you blinded and miss something worth seeing. Then, in the end, after everything you went through, can you still ask them if whatever you do was enough. Or was enough and you never should have doubted it.

Apollo stood alone on the stage, the light still pointed at him; his eyes were closed, however, as he opened them. A pair of golden eyes landed on a certain figure on the ground.

~Mother, I love you~ he lastly sang as the light turned off for a second and returned back to normal.

For a few seconds, there was silence, and this made the boy worry if he sang way too feminine or too masculine. As he began to think a resounding clap and cheers filled his ears.

However, even with the loud applause, the boy's eyes linger on a certain person.

Alicia followed his eyes, and as she saw the recipient of such an affectionate gaze, a smile formed on her lips.

"So you finally arrived," she just said, crossing her arms as she led on the wall.

Soon, Apollo exited the stage, and the host took over to announce that the winner would be announced shortly after a short break.

"Not bad," Alicia admitted, though her smirk betrayed her amusement.

Apollo bowed awkwardly, his cheeks burning. "Never again," he muttered to himself, but Alicia could see the smile on his lips after seeing a certain someone in the crowd.

"Alright let me first make some retouch on your outfit and makeup"

Apollo, who was happy about his mother's arrival, was suddenly taken aback, so he said, "Wait, isn't the one a while ago enough?"

"Nope we had to fix something on your face"

"Nope, my face is already perfect," Apollo just argued, using Alicia's tone of voice as she spoke to him.

"Don't copy me, now be a good boy and let me fix you"

For a moment, Apollo pouted, now liking it, but soon gave up under Alicia's urging.

"Next time, I'll be the one to do your makeup," he randomly declared, earning a laugh from her.

"Okay okay you will" a playful reply came from her and made Apollo laugh as well

The short break gave some of the lower class students in the crowd to visit Apollo at his hiding place or, more to say, dressing room.

Apollo's friends were in various states of barely contained hysteria while the tower mages didn't say anything but their silence only made Apollo suspicious of them.

"Please tell me you didn't record that," he helplessly asked, but none of the mages answered.

"Come on," he added, feeling exasperated.

But soon, his attention shifted to his trouble-making classmates.

"Did you see his face when he tripped?" one of them whispered, tears of laughter streaming down their cheeks.

"Almost trip, Braiden" he corrected.

"I'm never letting him live this down," Mckenzie said, grinning ear to ear.

"But to tell you the truth we almost thought you were a girl with how you acted and spoke"

"And the singing Apollo you were quite good!" Vesta added Blair's remark. They began talking happily until familiar footsteps made Apollo stop and shift his attention to the door. Then it opened, revealing a beautiful white-haired woman.

"Mother!"

Apollo smiled as he saw his mom; however, that smile soon fell when he saw the item in his mother's hand.

"An image capturer?"

Now he wishes he never invited anyone from the tower.