Okay, before I even start, we got in trouble, Amelia and I. 

I don’t know what happened, we were doing what we always did at night, going on adventures into the forest and like always we snuck our way back inside. Then BOOM, busted. I don’t know how we got caught because I was so quiet. I didn’t even bump into anything this time. 

Not to mention she scared the crap out of me. I almost had a heart attack when she turned on the light. How did she find out? No one knows. She came out of nowhere. I can't believe this, we were doing so good for the past week and a half. I learned so much about lumons and we even out ran a wolf-like thing. We didn’t get attacked or anything. I have no bruises this time, we were doing great– 

“Lotus! Are you listening to me?” Lydia snapped and I quickly nodded even though I heard nothing she said. “Yes– yes ma’am,” I forced out while staring at the floor. 

“You both could have gotten hurt,” she paused looking between us, just from her fast breathing she was either really upset or really scared. I couldn’t tell without asking but I was too much of a coward to even try to ask. 

“Don’t either of you ever go out there again, do you two understand?” 

Just glancing at Amelia I could tell she wasn’t used to Lydia being this angry with her. The tears filling up in her eyes told me everything I needed to know. 

She’s never been seriously scolded before. 

Must be nice to never get in trouble. 

“Am I making myself clear?” she spoke again when we didn’t say anything, irritation rising in her oddly calm voice. I didn’t answer because I was worried about Amelia. Even though this was her idea, I was always willing to go with her and even encouraged it sometimes. 

Maybe if I would’ve told her no we wouldn’t be in this situation. 

“Speak!” 

Flinching, I lifted my head and nodded with a quick, “yes ma’am,” dropping out of my mouth. Amelia only whispered it and Lydia sighed, running her hands over her face, “go to bed.” 

Walking towards my room, I gave Amelia one last glance before pushing the door to my room open and heading inside. 

The days following that night, Amelia and I were on house arrest… at least that’s what it felt like. We could not leave the house unless Lydia was with us. We helped cook, clean and plant flowers. Lydia had us doing any and everything that could and would tire us out so we wouldn’t have the energy to even try and sneak out at night. 

Did the punishment fit the crime? 

I don’t know– but I felt bad for Amelia. She really loved going into that forest just to listen to the waterfall. She loved the unusual flowers it produced and the colors of the sky when the forest guardian came out before it disappeared again. She even liked the lumons that were always hiding behind the waterfall even though she had an extreme fear of bugs. 

Now we can’t go back ever again. 

On the bright side though, we have about six months until we leave, I think. I’m trying my best to learn as much as I possibly can before we head out on the long journey to Indica. 

Though I loved reading, there was just one little problem… What should I read first? 

Pulling a picture book off the shelf I let it fall open while searching for something else to read. There wasn’t much but I grabbed the first book cover that caught my attention, not bothering to read the title I flipped it open. 

“Mana manipulation… the forming of shapes…” whispering the information to myself, I sat down on the floor preparing to attempt said instructions. 

Before I began to attempt anything, I checked to see if it got dark. Just to measure how much time I had until Lydia came to give me a bath. 

Stretching my limbs, a soft sigh escaped and then I slammed my fist into my palms, “let's get started.” Looking at the pictures on the page I copied what I saw. My left hand was made into a curve shape as my other hand hovered above it. A soft purple light illuminated from my left hand, where the mage mark made itself comfortable on my skin and I began attempting the first shape. 

Collecting as many mana particles as I could, a small ball began to form in my palm. Building itself out of pure energy. It wasn’t solid my first try as it fell apart the moment I stopped but, it was better than nothing. 

I kept retrying that same shape over and over, but the most I could do was make it stable for a couple of seconds. Then it would fall apart again and disappear. I couldn’t make them any bigger than a marble without them falling apart immediately. 

The marble sized ball of energy was all I could manage in a short amount of time. It still wasn’t solid like in the picture but– progress I guess. 

I attempted the other shapes but they were nearly impossible to make, every attempt ended up collapsing in my hand or just not even forming at all. 

What the hell? 

Groaning in annoyance I kicked the book. My hands balled into fist, nails digging into my palms, “argh! It’s not working!” I gritted my teeth in frustration. With my hands running through my hair I exhaled about to attempt the shapes again only for a– “Lotus? Are you ready for your bath?” to come from the hallway and I quickly grabbed the book, shoving it back on the bookshelf. 

“Yes! I’m ready,” I responded, dropping back to my feet with a slight stumble, running into the hallway. Pressing my marked hand against the door frame on the way out, I didn’t realize I left something behind. 

The next day went by pretty smoothly, nothing was ever brought up about it. Plus I was too busy helping Amelia clean her room. I kind of helped her make the mess so I felt obligated to undo what I helped make. We had finished up a few hours earlier when Lydia brought it up later that evening, stopping me on my way to the kitchen. 

“Lotus, my sweet flower, would you like to explain what happened here?” she pointed at what looked like a handprint, but I couldn’t make out the shape properly as it looked disorientated in this angle. “Uh…” I trailed off, knitting my brows together, I moved closer. To be honest it just looked like someone used chalk and pressed their hand on the wall after playing. 

Glancing at my mom she watched me silently as she waited for me to finish my sentence. How can I say this? 

“Someone… touched the wall… with uh… dirty hands?” I held my hands out as a way to show what I meant, and she only laughed, shaking her head at me. That’s not very nice, I tried. 

With an amused smile she kneeled grabbing my hands, “no honey, that is a magic imprint. Were you using magic in the house?” she asked, holding my marked hand as she ran her fingers over my palm, staring down at it. 

Well I can’t lie even if I wanted to, she already knows… 

Regretfully, I nodded and she only continued to smile but I could tell she was upset. “I told you not to use your magic, didn't I?” Nodding once again, she lifted her gaze to look at me. “I don’t want you using it, magic is dangerous. You don’t need to use it, okay?” 

“But why?” 

“You could hurt someone accidentally, we don’t want that… but more importantly, you could get hurt.” she explained, turning my hand over to show my mage mark. 

“How would it hurt me? Mimi uses hers just fine.” 

Lydia’s smile slightly faltered before those lines at the corners of her mouth showed up and I knew she was about to lie to me. “Because you are very sensitive to mana my flower,” why is she lying to me? I’m not sensitive… Am I? 

“Magic is dangerous, don’t use it okay?” Deciding not to argue or tell her she’s wrong I simply nodded, “okay.” Lydia hummed, pushing my hair out of my face before letting go of my hand, “good, you may go.” 

Stepping back, I turned on my heel and went down the hall. So magic imprints are a thing? I wonder how you read it to identify someone. “Is it like a handprint?” 

“Lotus!” 

My hand immediately went over my ears, a loud ringing sound occurring. “Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t know you were so close by.” she apologized, grabbing my hands and pulling them away from my ears. “I’m sorry,” she repeated, hovering her hands over my ears and soon the ringing stopped. 

“Does it feel better?” 

When I nodded, she dropped her hands and grabbed my wrist pulling me down the hall. The sweet scent of cookies tickled my nose once I walked into the kitchen, then I remembered why I was coming this way before Lydia stopped me. 

Cookies! 

Standing on my tippy toes, I reached for the cookies on the table and grabbed as many as I could with one hand. Which wasn’t much, I only grabbed two and I managed that because they were on top of each other, kind of stuck together. 

Grinning, I sat on the floor, breaking the cookies in half once I pulled them apart. Amelia placed a glass of juice in front of me as she sat down with her own hand full of cookies. They weren’t the same as when Elijah made them but they were equally as sweet. Amelia tried to help our mom make them just like how he would, but we never really got the recipe for his random mix of ingredients. 

So they turned out a little different from how he’d make them but they still were just as good. Lydia told us multiple times that she was not a baker, but she did pretty good for someone that never bakes.  The cookies had this sugary taste to them, they reminded me of sugar cookies from my past life. They were always my favorite. 

Ever since my awakening I’ve been eating more food than usual, but that could also just be a side effect of me growing up. I’m not all that sure what could be the cause of that. Lydia doesn’t seem to mind my sudden appetite, if anything she seemed to expect it… mom’s are weird like that I guess. 

“L you’re making a mess,” Amelia said pointing at the crumbs on the floor that was left behind after every bite I made. It’s not my fault it crumbles everytime I take a bite. “I’ll clean it later.” She nodded, taking another bite of her cookie, and we ate in silence until Lydia came by. 

“What are you two doing?” Lydia asked, walking over. A frown… look of disapproval on her face once she noticed the plate of cookies on the floor, sitting between Amelia and I. 

Me, being me, just answered, “eating cookies,” with a bright smile not thinking much of it. 

“Oh? And how many did you eat?” she asked, tilting her head with a raised brow. How many? Glancing over at Amelia she held up two fingers so I said, “two,” even though I’m pretty sure I ate more than just two cookies. Something told me to stick with that answer so I did. 

“Only two? Are you sure?” 

With an innocent grin I nodded, hoping she believed me because I don’t know how many I ate. She glanced at Amelia who dropped her hands immediately and grabbed her cup, taking a few sips… very ladylike of her. 

Lydia hummed, grabbing the plate of cookies, placing it back on the table. “Did you finish cleaning your room?” She asked, her hand on her hip, looking at Amelia. 

I want another cookie. 

Glancing between them I contemplated on if I’d be able to grab one without being seen. Lydia was standing right next to them so the answer was automatically no, but I really want another one. 

“Can I get a cookie?” I pointed, interrupting their conversation by mistake. Lydia only smiled while shaking her head, grabbing the plate to put them away. Amelia stood up finishing her cup of juice before leaving the kitchen. 

Where is she going? 

“Lotus–” pausing mid walk I turned my head to look back at my mother who shook her head. Knitting my brows together a frown formed on my lips as I blew air from my nose. Without any warning my feet were lifted from the floor and Lydia was carrying me down the hall. 

She ended up bringing me to the study, where she was always seen writing to someone. I always assumed it was her sister, my aunt I had as of yet to meet. 

“Mommy, who are you writing to?” I decided to ask, standing on the tips of my toes trying to see the paper. “Your aunt, my sister Irene. She can’t wait to meet you.. Her and her husband are really excited to meet the newest member of the family.” 

Newest member? “Is that me?” with a confused look I pressed my finger to my chest and she chuckled, nodding. “But I’m three years old.” 

She hummed agreeing with what I said, “yes that is true, but they haven’t met you yet and I’ve been telling them so much about you.” She paused, thinking of what else to tell me before speaking up again, “your cousins are very excited to meet you as well...” Her smile never left her lips while she talked about her sister’s family. 

She must really love her sister… But why do I have this uneasy feeling? 

Shifting my gaze down, I tried to read the letter but she was covering it. Why won’t she let me read the letter? Are you hiding something, mother? 

“After I’m done I’ll get you ready for bed,” she said, turning me around and giving me a light nug to go forward. It was obvious she didn’t want me reading whatever it was she was writing to my aunt. Which is suspicious. 

A quick glance behind me and I walked off with suspicion still lingering in the back of my mind. Grabbing the first old rusted book that gained my attention. The only thing I noticed was that the title was some random gibberish I didn't understand. It had to have been a language I had as of yet to learn and I’ve seen some words in my day.

Anyways, I obviously decided to read it because… why not? 

Plopping down on the floor I flipped open the book. First things first, the book was one hundred percent in another language. This has to be the language they used to write in. Maybe I’m dyslexic… Nah, I can read pretty well. 

“The hell is enodatio?” I whispered, squinting at the only word on the faded paper. 

When I was about to turn the page, words began to appear… almost like someone was writing them in real time. 

‘They killed my daughter and we have nowhere else to go... and my followers are being slaughtered for simply being. I hope the one after me can stop this endless cycle of death and destruction we bring to the world.’ 

‘My companion has encouraged me to follow what I set out to do when I gained the title of priest. I believe I should do just that so no one else has to die from their hands. Keeping my descendants safe should be my top priority from now on.’ 

‘My son will carry out the bloodline as planned, and when another one like myself is born, he will be sent to my land as a scion.’ 

‘Though we will be born centuries apart, I hope this child understands that we all are aware of the burden of being what we are. I wish that it does not take them from their own paths in life and that they accomplish their dreams, much like the rest of us hoped too–’ 

“Lotus, ready to get to bed?” Lydia said standing from her seat. She’s finished already? With a bright smile I nodded, glancing down at the book in my hands. It was still writing even though I was no longer reading what it said. 

Whoever this is I hope the person they were writing to got the message. It’s sad that his daughter was killed though. 

I wonder why this book was on the shelf…