Dear sister, 

I haven’t seen you in so long and I usually wouldn’t write you a letter like this, but I need your help with something urgent. It’s about my youngest, I’m worried that he may be the one that was spoken of by the priest. He’s developed this strange ability to attract animals and bugs alike, but luckily they haven’t triggered anything yet since he only goes outside during the day, where I can see him. I hope he doesn’t trigger his own awakening early because of his curiosity. 

Sister, is there a way to keep Lotus from attracting such dangerous things? I’m very concerned for his safety. We live near that forest and anything can come out of there and lure him inside. How did something so troublesome be inherited by such a small child? He’s so pure I don’t want him to become tainted by that forest because he was curious. Hopefully Elijah finds something while he’s there with you. Please reply back if you have anything helpful to tell me, I would really appreciate it. If there was something to prevent an early awakening please be sure to tell Elijah while he’s there. 

Speaking of, how is the boy? Did he go through his awakening yet? Did he survive it? Please tell him I miss and love him dearly. Also, tell my nieces that I miss them very much and I hope to meet my dear nephew soon. I hope they aren’t giving you too much trouble. Tell your husband that I hope to see him again soon so we can all have tea together like we used too. Before I forget, tell my nephew I wish him a happy early birthday and I hope he has many more amazing birthdays just like this one. I’ve sent him an early gift with Elijah so he should receive it when he gets there. But I should go before I start rambling again about useless things. I hope to speak with you again soon dear sister. I wish you and your husband all the best. 

 Sincerely your loving sister, 

Lydia 

Lotus 

It was early spring, we had just finished celebrating the birth of my sister, Amelia about a week ago. She was officially five years old in the year ten fifty-three… as of april that is. Though they call some of the months different names… they were too hard to remember, don't ask me, I haven’t a clue. 

That looks cool. 

“What is that?” I whispered, leaning towards the small bug in question. Glancing back, I made sure my mom had left before I reached for it. It was just sitting here at the entrance of the forest behind my home, unprovoked and I had to. It was so colorful, the bright blue on its back was oddly tempting and I wanted to know what it was. 

“Lotus, do you want to see something cool?” 

The way my breath got caught in my throat, I couldn’t breathe. I about died, where did she come from? 

Her curious eyes traveled down my arm and she grabbed my hand preventing me from touching the bug I was reaching for. Her gaze shifted back to me with a bright smile, don’t just show up like that! 

“Do you?” she asked, her head tilting to the side waiting for my response and I just stared at her blankly. Why would I? A highly intelligent scientist, want to see something cool? I’m trying to do some serious experiments right now, please don’t interrupt me. 

Squinting, I continued to stare at her because… did she just– just roll her eyes at me? 

Listen lady– 

“Let’s go!” cutting off my train of thought she pulled me away from my experiment. Looking back at the bug something unusual happened. What is that? Its brightly colored wings did not match what I thought it looked like. I didn’t know creatures here had horns. 

Then again I don’t really get out much… 

Why does she walk so fast? My poor legs can’t keep up, she’s too fast for a mere five year old. Is this a stamina thing? Is it because she goes on trips with our father and I don’t? This is not fair. 

Honestly it could be because I’m not used to this body yet. Either way it’s not fair! 

While following my sister the large trumpet flower in the center of the garden was the only thing I could focus on, since it had this odd glow to it. “When did that get there?” I whispered, shifting my gaze to my sister before looking back at the flower. She had this strange look in her eyes and I didn’t know if it was because of me, or because I asked a question. Either way she answered my question with an attitude like it was supposed to be obvious. 

“Mommy made it with her magic.” Oh, sorry I’m dumb and didn’t know you could make flowers out of magic. 

“She said that if you feel sick or uncomfortable you should touch it, because it has special healing powers,” she explained with a big grin on her face. It didn’t match the look she had earlier but, at least she wasn’t upset with me. 

I was told not to touch stuff like this. 

“It’s okay, you can touch it,” she reassured me while grabbing the petals. Silently, I just watched what happened and for a while nothing did. Until these purple looking veins traveled into her hands and up her arms. 

The color was dark, almost black but it gave off this purple glow that made it impossible to miss. It looked so similar to the color of our mom’s magic that it was oddly comforting just to see. For a second, Amelia looked just like her. The lines on her face slowly disappeared, like they sunk into her skin as she let go. Her hands dropped and her expression softened, a soundless sigh escaping. 

“You want to try?” she tilted her head, her gaze landing on me. At first, I didn’t know if I should even attempt it but she insisted while grabbing my hands, and placing them on the flower petals. There was no way I could say no with her not giving me a chance to even refuse her. The moment my hands touched the flower, this cool feeling traveled up my hands and through my body with a quickness. 

Am I really that broken? It didn’t react this fast to Amelia. It’s so bright. Is it because I’m younger? 

The veins traveled up my hands and arms just like how they did with Amelia, but they were so much brighter. That cool feeling soon changed to one of warmth and the voices slowly began to quiet down like they were being dragged away. It was quiet and I didn’t know this feeling was something I could have. My head wasn’t hurting like it normally did. It was peaceful for the first time and all I could do was stare at my hands. The purple veins didn’t sink into my skin like they did with my sister; they seemed to spread and disappear gradually. 

I’ve never felt like this before. 

Amelia’s hand wiped the tears from my face with a smile. “Do you feel better?” she asked, and I gave a nod not sure what to say in response since I was in a euphoric state of mind. My eyelids soon got heavy as I lifted my head to look at her. 

“Are you sleepy?” 

Again, I only nodded in response and she grabbed my hand, guiding me back inside. Looking behind me I stared back at the large flower, the wind slowly starting to pick up once Amelia got the door open. “Mommy! L sleepy!” She called and I shut the door behind us, making sure it was locked. 

Getting silence as an answer we started getting our shoes off. I wonder what mom is doing, she’s really quiet. Walking to Amelia’s room she helped me onto her bed. I guess she decided to take a nap as well since she climbed in after me. “Sleep tight L,” she said mimicking our mother, pulling the blanket over us. The moment my head touched the pillow I was out so I heard nothing else she said after that. I don’t even know if she fell asleep or just laid there next to me. 

The only thing I heard when I woke up was the sound of both my mother and Amelia trying to wake me. My mom whispered softly, “Lotus, my flower, it's time to get up.” her voice was comforting and light. It didn’t hurt to hear upon waking. 

“L it’s lunch time.” 

“Come on, little flower,” she hummed, lifting me off the bed. Staring down at Amelia, who was walking behind Lydia, she smiled up at me. “Are you up, messy boy?” my mom asked as I rubbed my eyes but she grabbed my hand. 

Why are you calling me messy? 

“Were you playing in the dirt?” Playing in the dirt? Uh, “no.” 

“He was playing with bugs, again.” Lydia looked back at my sister and then nodded, walking over to the sink. She placed my hands under the faucet and with a small flick of her finger, cold water came pouring out. Grabbing the soap she began cleaning my hands for me, which I could have done on my own but I can’t reach the sink so uh… anyways.

Sitting at the table Amelia sat across from me, her eyes glued to the plate in front of her. Lydia placed a small plate in front of me and I tilted my head looking at the food. “What’s this?” I asked, it looked like a ball of rice but it didn’t smell like rice. “Mountain cuniculus rice balls.” 

Cuniculus? Is that a type of meat? Weird. 

“Miya, do you want juice or water?” she grabbed two cups, glancing back at my sister. “Juice please!” she grinned, pressing her hands on the table to lift herself slightly from the chair. Humming, she poured both cups of juice. With a top on my cup, she placed them both on the table. 

Grabbing the rice ball I tried to pull it apart, immediately dropping it at the sound of my name being called. My gaze shifted up to see my mom staring at me with that warning look in her eyes. Glancing away she grabbed this sharp looking knife, walking over to cut the ball in half. That look still in her eyes as she glanced at me when she spoke. “Don’t make a mess and mind your manners, Lotus.” she said after she finished. 

Shifting my gaze away I dropped my hands in my lap, only to lift them again, pressing my palms together. “Thank you for the food, goddess of Nucifera.” Amelia and I said simultaneously. 

Sadly, I couldn’t eat anything until Amelia had her first bite which was fine, because I didn’t know what cuniculus was. Watching her, I waited for her reaction but she didn’t have one, she just kept eating like it was normal. “Go ahead, it won’t hurt you,” my mother said, so… with caution, I took my first bite. 

At first, all I tasted was the rice, then the meat flooded my taste buds. It was pretty tough to chew but it just tasted like chicken. The fear of it tasting bad immediately going away once I realized it was just a weirdly named meat. We ate in silence for a good ten minutes until Amelia opened her big mouth again. 

“When is daddy coming home?” 

Lydia seemed to flinch at the question, the expression on her face made it seem like she didn’t want to answer. It was quiet for some time, making me lift my head since there was no conversation happening. Does she not know? Did something happen between them for her to hesitate to answer? Don’t tell me I was born into a broken family?