Soon the burning stopped and my eyes opened. The sense of familiarity settled in once I saw the ceiling of my bedroom. I’m back. Smiling, I sat up with a stretch, my bones popping like an old man. 

It took a minute for me to notice, but I was trapped. Did I do this? Squinting, I looked around the forest that was my room now and just laid back down. I don't have the energy to deal with this. That's future me's problem now. 

I fell asleep, waking up many hours later, the sun beaming through my window like my own special alarm. Sadly the forest didn’t deal with itself in the meantime, if anything the vines that confined me to my bed tightened over night. “Great,” I muttered, much too weak to pull on them. 

What did Thea say again? Humming, I picked with the vine that was wrapped around my leg. “Embrace my mana?” biting my top lip I rested my palms against the green plant, shutting my eyes. Yawning, I began my first attempt at “embracing mana.” It wasn’t easy considering I had no idea what I was doing. 

Though with my high intelligence, my second attempt was nothing but a breeze, once I realized that all I had to do was copy what I saw my mother doing. Embracing mana should be as easy as breathing. At least that’s what I’ve learned by watching Lydia. My mother used her magic like it was just another limb on her body. 

But unlike my mother, my father actually meditated from time to time. So copying what I’ve seen him doing, I lifted my grass stained hands allowing them to hover over the vines and shut my eyes. A soft breath escaped my lips as little white particles floating around my room showed up in the darkness that was behind my eyelids. I could see all the mana floating around and gradually, I grabbed and pulled each particle together. 

At first the presence of all that power was overwhelming. It was difficult to keep my eyes shut the whole time so I could see what I was doing. While I absorbed all that I possibly could, that empty feeling I had when Cyrus left was fading away. Just like a magnet trying to connect to its other half, the mana particles dove into my chest and I collapsed. Head hitting the pillow as I struggled to breathe, my heart beating irregularly while I stared at the ceiling. 

Why was that so tiring? 

Lifting my leg, I wiggled my toes, smiling at the fact that I could move them freely again. My body calmed down once it adjusted to the mana that was being used as a stabilizer. My eyes fell shut for just a brief moment before I sat up and looked around. The place was still covered in green but at least I was able to get free. 

I wonder if the second awakening is just like this. With that thought in mind, I pushed myself off the bed only to get yanked back, nearly breaking my own neck. “Ow!” I blurted out, falling back into my bed holding my head. 

Wrapping my fingers around the strands of hair I could grab, I pulled it from wherever it was stuck. Hearing a few tears I flinched, stumbling back, landing on my bottom. My hand immediately went to rub my head, “ow,” I muttered, squeezing my eyes shut as if it would ease the pain. 

Shifting my gaze up I sighed, looking at the hair on my bed that tore from the ends. “Am I bald?” I panicked, slapping my hands over my head feeling all the curly strands, a heavy sigh falling from my lips. “Oh, good it’s still there.” Then– “where did all that hair come from?” 

With that thought in mind I stood up and silently headed out the door. My grass stained hands dragged along the walls as I wandered into the living room. My skin was basically green so just like my body the walls gained a new color it didn’t need. Peering inside the room, I searched the area for anyone lurking around but it was silent. Nothing was heard, not even the slightest sound of someone breathing. 

Did everyone leave? 

Dragging my bare feet along the wooden floor board, the light creaking with each step, my hand grasped the door knob to head outside. 

The moment I stepped outside my ears were bombarded with multiple unknown voices. My eyes darted around in attempts to find the owners but being overwhelmed didn’t help me focus. It was like being in a crowd and everyone was yelling directly in your ears, trying to tell you their side of the story. Yet all you could hear was a blob of random words that didn’t fit the voice or the person you thought was talking. 

My head moved in every direction that the voices came from. Not being able to process or keep up, I ran back inside. Once the door was shut everything went silent again. Lifting my shaking hands, panic creeped up as I tried to refocus my vision. The ringing in my ears lasted for far too long and I was alone or at least I thought I was. 

With my obscured vision I used the walls to guide me back to my room. The light smell of wet grass was my only way of knowing I made it to my room as I couldn’t see very well. 

Pressing my hand against the center of my abdomen, it was my attempt to stop the burning sensation that occurred suddenly. Gritting my teeth, suppressing the sound that tried to escape as I squeezed my eyes shut, taking in a harsh breath. Being burned from the inside out was not something I was looking forward to, when the idea of having magic was on the table. 

I take back everything I said, this is not cool! Why does everything hurt? I can’t handle this. I am not your strongest soldier, please. 

“I thought she said the burning will stop when I wake up…” freakin’ liar. 

Pressing my hand into the flowers that were growing from the vines, it vanished, turning into pure energy. That energy wrapped itself around my arm and apparently my skin is very absorbent. Gradually, as the mana traveled to the center of my abdomen the burning simmered down. 

I silently laid there, clutching my shirt, the greenery began to fade away the more mana I absorbed. 

Though the room still gave off forest vibes with how there was stuff hanging from the ceiling. When I finally stood up my room door flew open, “Lotus… you woke up?” Whipping my head around, I was greeted with a warm embrace from my mother. 

“I thought you’d never wake…” she whispered, pulling away and cupping my cheeks in her hands, rubbing the grass stains from my face. Her eyes scanned over my face, concern, replacing her relieved expression. “You’re so dirty,” she clicked her tongue with a sigh. “Sorry,” I muttered and she only smiled at me, her hand ran through my hair. “Let’s get you something to eat, you must be hungry.” 

Hungry? Not really, but I could eat. 

“Amelia and I were just about to make lunch.” Oh, that’s right Amelia should be awake now. Raising my arms towards her, my feet were soon lifted from the ground and she headed out of the room. 

“I’ll have to figure out what to do with your hair,” she whispered, while walking down the hall. Seeing the long blonde hair of my sister, I couldn’t stop my smile from making itself comfortable on my face. “Amelia, guess who’s finally awake,” Lydia announced walking into the kitchen. 

For a second I could have sworn her eyes were glowing, but it could just be my eyes still trying to adjust. One thing was for sure, her hair was so much longer than I remembered. She turned around with a bright smile on her face, the nickname she had given me since I was born fell out of her mouth when she greeted me. My hands immediately slapped over my ears and my eyes fell shut, my face pressed into Lydia’s shoulder. 

“Amelia your brother has sensitive ears, you have to use your inside voice when talking to him,” she explained in a hushed tone. Her hand was placed over her own and a soft, “oh, I’m sorry,” came from Amelia. 

“Hi Lotus,” she muttered, her voice a lot lower than before. Glancing over at her, I smiled with a small wave, “hi Mimi.” 

Lydia sat me down in one of the chairs, her fingers tugging my hair back as she put it up in a makeshift ponytail with the fabric that was around her wrist. It was when Amelia tucked the spare strands of hair behind my ears that I noticed a very important person was missing. “Where is dad?” I blurted out, looking around as if he’d pop up somewhere. 

“He’s in the capital dealing with something.” Lydia replied once she was finished with my hair, making her way around the table towards the sink. Again? Does Elijah work for the government? Is he an imperial knight? I don’t think he’s ever mentioned what type of job he has. He’s always leaving at the most random times. I wonder how long he’s been gone.

With a glance from my mother, the faucet turned on and she dumped a bag of vegetables in a bowl. “Amelia,” she muttered and my sister climbed out of the chair, pulling it towards the kitchen counter. 

“Can I help?” I thought I’d ask before doing anything since they seemed to have everything planned out already. “No, you just woke up…” Lydia said before quietly adding, “it’s a miracle you can walk around.” 

Staring at Amelia, I watched her with my brows knitted together, whatever my mom was doing faded into the background. My sister silently moved her fingers like she was playing the piano, yet there was no instrument in front of her, just random vegetables that my mother threw in a bowl. 

It looked oddly elegant like she had done this many times before. Has she already mastered her mana abilities? How long has it been? 

“What’s today?” I decided to ask just to get an idea of the time that passed. My mother hummed, shifting her gaze as she thought about her answer, “ten fifty-five, the first day of maios.” Maios? What month is that? Nodding, pretending I knew what that meant I just smiled, “oh.” 

Have I really been asleep for that long? It was ten fifty-four the last time I was awake. Maios? Has April already passed? “What about Amelia’s birthday?” 

“I spent last month with daddy before he left,” she answered, still focused on cutting up the vegetables. Okay, so he just recently left. Wow I didn’t even get to see him. “I’m done,” Amelia announced, her hands hovering over the bowl before she dropped them, using the counter for balance as she climbed down from the chair. 

“Thank you, Miya,” My mother called as Amelia grabbed my hand pulling me out of the kitchen. “Miya, make sure to stay in the front yard,” Lydia quickly added while I was pulled out the front door. “Mimi, my shoes–” I pointed but she simply cut me off, “you don’t need them, we have magic now!” 

Magic or not, I don’t want to step on something and cut my foot open. 

“You’ll be okay, I’ll keep you safe, remember?” 

Huh? “Um right, okay.” 

The instant my feet touched the cool grass, it was like everything cleared up. The sky was so vivid it seemed unreal, much like how you’d experience a very realistic video for the first time. Or how I believe a freshly turned vampire would see the world. It was so colorful, not to mention it was summer time so the sky was clear, no clouds in sight. 

“Isn't it pretty?” Amelia smiled, staring up at the clear sky. A very soft, “yeah,” fell from my lips as I smiled as well. It was quiet now that I was with my sister, strangely. 

I wonder what all those voices were before. 

Following my sister, she tugged me down with her when she fell into the grass turning over onto her back. “Mimi, you’ll get dirty,” I muttered trying to help her up but she didn’t budge. “It’s okay, me and mommy did this while you were sleeping.”  

“You did?” I asked, obviously not believing her because I’ve never seen our mom just lay in the grass. She patted the spot next to her, the smile on her face never leaving. If I wasn’t dirty already I would’ve declined but– 

‘It’s a great day!’ 

‘It’s hot!’ 

“What’d you say?” knitting my brows together I glanced at Amelia, confused. “Huh?” she turned her head towards me, looking equally confused. “Did you say something?” Judging by the expression on her face it was obvious she didn’t know what I was talking about, so I just dismissed it. 

“Weird…” I muttered, the confusion fading away. With my bottom making contact with the ground, I lifted my gaze to the sky, watching two birds fly by. Am I hearing things that aren't there? Is this a side effect of my mana seed developing? 

More science experiments? I think yes. 

While I thought of all the different things I could test out, Amelia and I silently watched the sky. The only things that were really heard were the faint sounds of random animals or the wind blowing every once in a while. 

It felt nice to just do nothing for once. Especially since I can still feel the pain of my awakening. It lingered like a constant reminder that it wasn’t over. This was just the first awakening, I can only imagine what the second one would feel like. 

“Mimi, do you know why dad isn’t here?” I decided to ask to fill the silence between us and it took her a moment before answering. “I don’t know, mommy said he went to go see our uncle.” 

Uncle? Oh… I wonder what was so important he had to leave like that.