Does that mean I can’t go outside anymore? With that thought in mind I was placed down in a chair. My hands were still very dirty so I guess my mom accommodated for that by providing me with utensils. “After you’re both done eating it’s bath time,” Lydia said walking out of the kitchen. 

Grabbing my spoon I scooped up the cooked vegetables on my plate and took a bite. They were so spicy, what did she put in this? Glancing over at Amelia she seemed completely fine, like it wasn’t bothering her at all. Is it because I’m younger than her? Are my tastebuds still developing? I don’t know anything. 

Sticking my tongue out I reached for my cup of juice and tried to wash the feeling down with something cold. I did this every few bites until it felt normal and the spiciness didn’t affect me. At least that's what I like to tell myself, because little did I know spicy food was going to be my new reality from this point forward. 

Amelia finished her food before I could, so she was the first to go take her bath, while I attempted to finish up what was left on my plate. My mom cooks a lot of rice so she usually piles it up on our plates expecting us to eat all of it. 

Luckily, I love rice so it doesn’t ever bother me as much as it does my sister. She almost never finishes up all the rice on her plate. If anything she just dumps it on my plate expecting me to eat what she couldn’t. 

Personally, I find it rude but I'd never tell her that. 

Soon I finished my meal, hopping out of the chair I headed towards my room. Whatever was on the other end of that door was both surprising and unsettling. What the hell? “I thought lotus flowers only grow in ponds.” With a crease of my brows I stepped over the out of place flowers, reaching for the clothes Lydia left out for me. 

Glancing around, a soft sigh escaped with a loose shrug of my shoulders and I walked out the room. That’s future me’s problem now. 

While wandering down the hall, the light sound of my sister’s giggling reached my ears. “Yes, you’re just as pretty as mommy. You have such beautiful hair, Miya much like my mother, it’s so long and soft,” I could hear her smiling as she complimented Amelia. 

There was a long silence before my sister spoke up again. “Mommy, how come L didn’t get our hair color?” 

At first there was no answer which made me curious as to why she even asked that. I thought it was obvious, genetics. “Because your brother is very special, you remember me telling you that before he was born right?” I assumed she shook her head since Lydia went on speaking. “You promised to help mommy and daddy keep your little brother safe when I told you he has special gifts.” 

“Oh, you said that L could save Sai.” 

Who is Sai? 

Lydia hummed, “yes, I said he could save Sai. So until then, we must keep your baby brother safe from all the bad things that want to hurt him, okay?” 

Sai? Is this person sick? Don’t tell me this is some type of main character arc, I don’t want to be a main character. 

Let me live my life in peace. I just wanna learn magic and do cool stuff I read in books. 

Feet hitting ground pulled me out of my thoughts. Forcing my body to react on its own as it felt the need to rush and crash into Amelia. “Ow,” I muttered, stumbling backwards and a loud, “sorry!” escaped the young girl's mouth as she grabbed my arm stopping me from falling. 

With her grip on my arm she guided me into the bathroom where my mother was sitting and waiting, a kind smile sitting on her lips. A bucket wasn’t that far from her as she motioned for me to come closer, arms extended, her palms exposed to me. 

Naturally, I allowed her to remove the floor from my feet, like she always did. The distance became normal after so long. “Can I help?” Amelia asked, moving closer to the bathtub. 

Lydia didn’t give her a proper answer and simply began stripping me of my clothes. “It even bled through your clothes,” she sighed. Amelia silently filled the bathtub with water, “was my skin that bad?” she asked and Lydia shook her head, “no, it didn’t bleed through your clothes like this.” 

Lydia lifted my head, looking at my grass stained face, “hopefully it comes off or you’ll look like a poisoned elf for a while.” Poisoned elf? My head tilted as I didn’t understand if she was being literal or not. 

Do they turn green when poisoned? 

My bath was pretty quick, though the scrubbing wasn’t something I was very fond of. My mom and sister washed my hair last, using the bucket that was in the room. They refilled it with fresh warm water and used it to get the grass, leaves and whatever else happened to be in there, out. My head felt ten times lighter afterwards. 

While my hair was in such a state, my mom began cutting it. She had no scissors so I didn’t know how my hair was just falling to the floor at such a speed. The strands of hair kept hitting the ground like a wet washcloth. It wasn’t like she was trimming it. She was cutting handfuls of hair and dropping it on the floor. 

How did I not notice it was so long? 

“Okay, that’s much better.” Lydia took in a soft breath, running her fingers through the curls, drying them with her… magic? Oh, that explains it. I’m dumb, ignore me. 

“The smell is finally gone,” she muttered, picking me up out of the water, quickly wrapping my body in a towel. “You smell like a little flower now, Lotus.” 

Is that a good thing? 

Once I was dried off, my mom helped me with my clothes and without my consent, she let Amelia brush my hair. I couldn’t reject her as she was so nice and helped me out a lot today. Lydia however, took the chance and began to clean the bathroom while the two of us were distracted. 

“L, your hair is really pretty,” Amelia commented once she was done. I just smiled at her as I didn’t know what to say, but I noticed the light surrounding her. She was genuine with everything she said as most children should be. But like always, there was this nagging voice in the back of my head telling me the exact opposite. 

What do I trust? 

She’s a child, she couldn’t be scheming anything. 

“Alright, my little flowers, time to get out of the bathroom.” 

“Can we–” 

“No, Amelia, you can not go outside. Why don’t we read some stories?” With a bright smile, followed by an excited gasp, I opened my mouth, “can we read the rabbit book?” Lydia nodded at my suggestion. Though Amelia didn’t look too happy about it. While my hand was raised, I noticed something odd on my skin. I didn’t think much of it, when I ran off to go grab the book from the study, but it was a lingering thought all throughout the night. 

We read many books. Some were about the ancient gods while others were about a chosen hero saving everyone from evil. Personally, I loved the ones about the all powerful gods, while Amelia preferred the latter. 

“One day I’ll become really strong so I can save the world!” She stood up on the couch, with her arms outstretched. “Of course you will,” Lydia agreed, smiling at my overconfident sister. 

“What about you, Lotus? You want to save the world with your sister?” 

With all due respect, I’d rather die. “I wanna be like the gods.” For a split second, I could see the shift in her eyes when the words fell from my mouth. I’m not sure if it was confusion or fear, but it came and went like the wind and she filled the silence with a humorous laugh. “Your father would’ve loved to hear that.” 

“I hope you reach that goal, my flower.” Though she was smiling with a whole hearted laugh, her voice had a hint of seriousness to it. Does she really think it’s achievable? 

“Alright time for bed, it’s getting late.” she yawned, shutting the book we just finished. Amelia jumped off the couch running to her room as if she was excited to go to bed. 

How much did I miss? 

Lydia stood up and I followed her silently until I reached the darkness that was my room. The moon light didn’t help ease my mind as it casted shadows of unwanted figures. Looking back down the hall my mom disappeared into Amelia’s room, leaving me alone in the dark. 

I don’t like this…

Maybe I can wait for her to come back. 

Groaning, I slapped my hands over my face and forced myself to walk through the door. “It’s not scary, it’s just shadows, Lotus.” 

“It’s not monsters, it’s not monsters,” I muttered repeatedly as I ran to place my hand over the light sensor. I breathed a sigh of relief once I could see what was actually making the shadows. “Vines… great, forgot about this.” 

Hello future me. This is awkward. 

Running the tips of my fingers over the vines it was oddly soothing. There was this familiar feeling to it, if that makes sense. Yet I still had no clue what to do with all this excess energy that I didn’t need. 

Lifting my head, staring at the door, I waited for my mom to walk by. “Oh, goodness, you still have so much… mana lingering in your room.” What? She saw the confusion on my face and began to elaborate. “This is the physical form of mana, since we can’t actually see it with the naked eye. It takes the form of nature to help us and to remind us that this is where we get our power.” she explained. 

“How do I get it to go away?” 

Humming she grabbed my hands, “just relax and close your eyes. If it hurts, keep going and eventually you will have all your mana in there,” she pressed her finger against my chest. “Pain means more power. If your mana is hurting you that means you’re getting stronger so keep trying until it’s all gone.” 

Pain means power? “Okay.” 

Lydia ran her fingers over my mage mark and I couldn’t help but look down. “How come mine looks different from yours?” Sighing, she spoke softly, “because you’re special, my little flower.” 

“I’m special?” she hummed, nodding with a saddened look on her face as she stared at my left hand. If I didn’t know any better, it looked like she was about to cry. Why is she sad? 

“Lotus, get to bed after you’re done. If you need any help, just ask.” and with that she stood, her hand immediately going up to her watery eyes as she exited the room. 

Strange, I thought before crawling into my bed and began to do as my mother told me. If it hurts, keep going. For some time I just sat there collecting the mana that lingered in my room. The stars were so pretty as they came together, forming a ball of overwhelming power. 

Glowing specs of mana slowly came closer, my room lit up with pure light before I began to drown. The drowning was one thing, but the pain and burning sensation that followed was indescribable. 

I don’t know when I went to sleep. I just know the pain was too much that I couldn’t stay conscious for too long and eventually, the darkness consumed me like many times before.