Chapter 7 – Causing Waves

          —Ciel’s Perspective—

          “Aggggh! Why does Elena have to be good at everything!?”

          I started learning magic with Cal first, so I just don’t understand how Elena got so much better when she’s only been practicing for half as long. Well, we Demi-humans have never had a great affinity with magic, so I guess it’s understandable, but this much of a difference is too much!

          Elena and I had been practicing on our own after Cal was moved to the boy’s room. He was only in our room because Chey would come in and check on him at night and that is less weird when it’s a girl’s room. I wonder, has Cal seen us changing? I don’t think so.

          Actually, Cal’s growth has been weird. He was talking when he was 6 months old, not only that, but he could also use magic. I think it’s cool that he can use chantless magic, but after showing us all of his magic, I think he’s frightened the other kids. Thurr acts tough, but immediately backs down if Cal gets involved, so Ulrich’s taken his place as their unofficial group leader. I think Talia is indifferent, but maybe she’s just hiding behind her brother, metaphorically speaking. Rukh is the worst off, I believe. She won’t even look in his general direction. I know Chey loves Cal like her own son, but I can’t help but feel like her image of him has changed a little bit. I mean, that was really advanced magic that even a Court Magi couldn’t accomplish.

          Cal is a sweet kid if you get to know him, but at first impression, he seems cold, calculated, and a little mischievous. What’s the word I’m looking for… it’s almost like he’s in a perpetual melancholy.

          I can understand why. He can remember every moment since his birth, and as a result, he witnessed his mother’s murder. He told me the story about the bandits and how he had hastily used the early version of the to stop the bandit, but I can’t help but think that he feels responsible for his mother’s death. He talks about it as if it doesn’t affect him much, but I feel like that’s just the façade he puts up to distance himself from his feelings.

          He doesn’t have to shoulder the burden himself. Both of my parents were killed too, and my brother and I were sold as slaves. The only reason I’m here now is because of my brother being a decoy so that I could escape, so I really do understand how he feels responsible for the fate of his family.

          Then there’s his business about having memories from another person. Maybe he feels out of place?

          I reached the shore of the lake in what seemed like no time while thinking about the happenings from the last few years.

          “Guh, Remmy, you’re a slave driver!” I shouted to myself. With my luck, she’ll probably have heard me and make me run until my legs give out again. I don’t know how that woman does it! How can you have those proportions and still move like that; it’s just unnatural. I’ve even noticed Cal staring at them, but I don’t think he’s doing it on purpose. It’s actually really funny. When Remmy addresses him, his face may look calm, but the raised heart rate, flushed skin, and cold sweat indicates that he’s putting an awful amount of effort into maintaining eye-contact.

          “I may not have much to look at now, but just you wait!” I pouted while frustratedly removing my leather training equipment.

          We were covered in grime from our training session with Remmy. We were made to crawl through the dirt, climb and jump from trees, fight, run, and do practice swings ‘til we couldn’t hold the swords anymore. I’ve been instructed to wash my body off in the lake so I don’t dirty the bath. Though, I’ve got a better method.

          I cast to create a spout of hot water from the ground, then stood under the cascade of water as it fell back down. I only started growing my hair our recently, so the grime washed away quickly under the temperate shower to reveal the lustrous auburn color my tribe is known for. The mud gave way to a Toasted pale complexion, made rosy by the steam.

          “How’d it even get my tail dirty!? I look like a Plains Stalker with that stripe pattern.”

          I finished washing my tail off, and I heard something crash through the bush behind me. Turning around, I saw Cal’s heading poking through the bush holding onto Ulrich’s collar who was face down in the dirt.

          I screamed in surprise as I tried to cover myself, but there wasn’t much else I could do.

          Excuse me? Wait, what? I…

“Cal… you… he…” I said, oratory skills failing me as Cal blinked his eyes, still unaware of his situation.

          I turned to run, but my foot got caught up on a tree root, and I fell in the mud slick I’d created from the geyser.

          Face down in the mud, I couldn’t see, but I heard footsteps coming from behind me, so panicking as I was, I threw a kick high and connected with something hard as a bag of rocks.

—Callum’s Perspective—

          “Mmfph!”

          I let out a muffled shout as her foot connected with the center of my head. My neck made a series of disturbing cracking noises as my head was violently displaced.

          The sky made a few rotations in my vision before the ground abruptly obstructed it. I’ve done something unforgivable. How do I even explain this? ‘I’m sorry, I thought you were a boy,’ or ‘I didn’t mean to peep, I was just stopping Ulrich’. They all sound like excuses, and the first one might even incite her scorn! God, my head hurts.

          Getting up while clutching my head, I see that Ciel had sat back up and was trying to wipe the mud from her eyes. I grabbed the cloth she’d hung up and wrapped it around her body. She twitched, obviously still in shock, but didn’t say anything as she continued trying to clear the mud away from her eyes.

          I pulled out a hand cloth and cast to moisten it. After placing it in her hand, I sat turned around, and I waited for her to finish.

          “Cal… did you see?”

          “I’m not going to lie and say I didn’t, but you’re going to have to let me explain myself.”

          She sat and thought about it while wiping her face with the cloth I’d handed her. Having cleared the mud from her eyes she spoke, “I know you’re not like that, so I’ll give you a chance to explain yourself, but only this once.”

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          “I noticed the top of your head from the other side of the bush and I was going to come over to you…” I averted her gaze for a moment, as I shifted my feet and crossed my arms in a menial effort to put some distance between us, “but… now, I know this is going to sound terrible, so please don’t take it the wrong way, but I thought you were a boy, and I tripped when I tried to pull Ulrich out of that bush.”

          “…and how can I not take that the wrong way…?” she said with a vein popping up on her forehead from trying to hold a smile.

          “Chey thinks you’re a boy though? Haven’t you noticed her calling you ‘he’, or ‘him’ all the time?”

          At that statement, her expression went blank, with her eyes looking like two solitary dots, blinking in disbelief.

          I handed Ciel her clean set of clothes and went to check on Ulrich as she changed. He was long gone. I wish I had his survival instincts right about now.

          Ciel then came out of the brush looking more depressed and tired than angry as she let out an extended sigh.

          Even with an aggregate age a little over 70, I still don’t understand women.

          “Thinking about it, I never did act like a girl, and I never gave you a reason to think I was one, so I’ll give you a free pass for now.” She said, dejectedly, her eyes saying that she’d lost all confidence as a woman.

          I owe a big thanks to whatever greater power exists in this world, because any other woman on earth would’ve had my head.

          We walked back up the path to the house in silence as the daylight receded. Maybe it’s just me trying to think about anything else other than my current situation, but this world is really beautiful. The trees are abundant and healthy, and the air is almost sweet due to the lack of pollution like on Earth. There was no light noise either, so you could see the night sky in all its splendor, undaunted by the pervasive glow of the modern world.

          As the level of light continued to drop, more stars flooded the night sky; significantly more than any I’d ever seen before. The binary ice blue moons took command of the sky as the sun dropped completely behind us.

          This is the same night sky that I see every night, and every time it reminds me of ‘that’ night. A night coated in the warm glow of the spell my mother had used to save me when I was born.

          I never did think about it, rather, I purposely tried to not think about it. I know I couldn’t have done anything to save her, but I can’t help but think that I was the one who caused her death. If I hadn’t used that skill, and only taken out the bandit, would she still be alive? Would her have saved her? I’ll have to ask Chey about it when we get back.

          “Cal, I’m not mad at you, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

          “Thank you, but no, to be honest that’s not what’s on my mind.”

          “Thinking about your mother?”

          Taken aback, I stopped and looked at Ciel. She was looking at the ground, and her hair was covering this side of her face, but I could tell what expression she was wearing.

          “It’s not your fault, Cal. From what you’ve told me, there’s nothing that you could have done that would have made a difference. You were a newborn at the time.”

          “Mm,” I said in a manner akin to a verbal shrug.

          “If you want, we can go sit at the top of the hill just up there and talk about it?”

          “No, I already understand that nothing I did would have made any difference in the outcome… I just want some closure. I mean, I only knew her for a day, but she was my mother.”

          Then I realized what felt off the entire time we were walking up here. The sun had set behind us, why is there a sunset in front of us now? I rushed up to the top of the hill hoping that it was something different than what I was thinking.

          Unfortunately, it was worse. I could feel my blood boiling remembering the night from seven years ago. The orphanage had been broken into and set ablaze by bandits.

          They were gathering up the other children, blindfolding them, and locking them in cages on a carriage.

          Ciel came up from behind me and covered her mouth in shock.

          “Cal th-”

          “Shh! Wait, let’s get an idea of what we’re going to have to fight before we rush in.”

          Suddenly, a cone of ice erupted from the rear of another carriage, swallowing a couple of bandits in an icy prison. Chey stepped out, mercilessly crushing the two men trapped in the platform of ice beneath her feet.

          Her eyes wide with murderous intent, she began chanting another spell, but was stopped prematurely by a single man in a grey hood who severed her hand at the wrist.

          Not missing a beat, Chey swung her bloody wrist around and flung blood into his eyes. She then counter rotated, away from the blade, and executed a textbook uppercut.

          The man was only grazed, as he had stepped back in time, but she clipped the hood, tearing it from his head.

          Feelings, that I had tried to keep buried, resurfaced as the man jumped into the light, avoiding a follow up punch from Chey.

          His face was severely burned, but he had the same dark hair that was tied back in a bun, and he had the same narrowed eyes from that night seven years ago.

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