I woke up to the familiar scenery of my crib. I rolled over and looked at my room. The familiar dark oak colored walls and the exquisite furniture came into my site. Ignoring the room, I take a look at the window. 'Night huh. I wonder what happened after that bright flash in the cathedral? Well not that it matters much though, but still I wonder what my parents were doing bringing me there' I think.
I continued to examine my room around me. There was a big, fluffy bed opposite to the entrance that had a nightstand next to it with a lamp on top. To the left of the entrance was a large couch with a flat screen in front of it. 'Well looks like the technology of this world is similar to Earth' I thought. My crib was placed between the entrance and the couch. The other things to the left was a large dresser and a mirror. I saw some brushes and other accessories on the top of the dresser. To the right was a desk that did not have anything on it at the moment. There was also a small bookcase with a few books in it. I wondered what they were, but decided to leave that thought for later. I returned back to laying on my back and started to think about what I want to do in this world.
'I obviously want to become a mage, so that means I will have to learn to control mana and manipulate it into different elements. Oh, that reminds me what are the basic elements of mana? Well, I will probably be taught them by someone soon. Maybe I should work on my mana perception. I can't really move much at the moment anyway so being able to do something with my time would be best,' I think to myself.
I tried to close my eyes and sense the mana around me. Spending up to twenty minutes solely focusing on trying to sense mana did not work, so I started to change my tactics. I started to look inside and sense the mana flowing inside of me. It took a while but I was finally able to sense a little bit of the mana. 'Well that was a success for tonight,' I thought as I yawned. 'Guess I should go to sleep for now,' I thought as I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
I continued to do this every night with little to no progress. Sometimes I would get upset over the little progress and end up crying. This caused mom to come in and calm me down. I felt bad for her. I did not want my mom to have to have sleepless nights because of me. I still continued to try to sense mana every night and tried to control my emotions better.
'Man sensing mana is hard' I thought frustrated. 'It's like trying to use a sixth sense to feel the movements around you. The sensation of feeling mana does not align with any of the five senses. Is it a sixth sense? Or is it something else?" I thought. It felt like I had to comprehend that mana was in my body by causing physical effects inside my body with my mana. I would use the small amount of mana I could perceive and would make it hit spots in my body to make my brain recognize the invisible force. I continued to do this when I remembered something else.
'Maybe if I can feel the soul inside of me I can feel mana better' I thought giving it a try.
The results were much better at first. As I followed the natural path the small amount of mana took, I noticed the gathering point of all the collected mana in my body. Although I could not perceive the mana well I could feel the small wisp of mana circling around a giant ball of energy. This energy had a very natural feeling to it as I watched the wisp of mana circle in a beautiful cycle and then be distributed around my body. 'So this is the natural movement of mana inside of my body,' I thought as I was mesmerized by the scene. 'So mana is used as a second energy source for the body. I wonder what types of effects it attributes to the cells?' I wonder as my thoughts start to trail off.
***
My testing continued and after a few more weeks the fruits of my labor were showing off. I could now sense up to about a fourth of my inner mana. I could still not sense the outer mana, but I thought I would start to feel it after my all my inner mana was perceived.
Today I was lazing around waiting for the night while thinking of ways to progress my mana sensing when my mom came in. She started to say something to me and then picked me up and carried me somewhere.
We arrived in a large dining hall that was filled with servants. They all looked at us, who had just entered, and bowed their heads at us. I was slightly shocked at the number of servants in the house. I had seen a few before when they came into my room to take care of me, but there were a lot here. I continued to look around the room and noticed my dad sitting at the end of the table. Mom quickly brought us over to him and sat down to his side. I was being held in my mom's chest as she waited for one of the servants to get a high chair. When I saw the high chair it looked very slick in design and matched very well with the chairs and table in the room, which was made from dark oak.
I was placed in the high chair and sat and waited for what was going to happen when I heard the door to the dining hall open.
"Mommy, Daddy I'm back from my visit to the city... hm? What's going on-" She said as she was cut off.
"Suprise!" all the servants and mom and dad all said.
I was startled when I heard the loud noise, but then my focus shifted to Kristy. She looked extremely happy and rushed over to the table and sat opposite of mom.
'Oh is this a surprise party? Is it Kristy's birthday?' I think as I start to figure out the context of the situation.
I quickly give up on analyzing the atmosphere and just enjoy the party.
***
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
"Come in," a voice said as I opened the door. "Oh Eli, what do you want? I thought I told you not to knock," he said.
"It's about Kristy's birthday, Vail," I said. "And I always knock because if I don't you complain about the rudeness of the servants before you see it's me," I say.
"Oh right it is March 24th today isn't it. What are your plans for her activities today?" he asks.
"Well, for now, she is asleep, but I plan to get Venessa to take her to the city and have her buy any three things she wants. Before she returns we are to prepare a surprise dinner for her," I say.
"Will it just be you and me at the dinner table, or is Aila going to be there also," he asks.
"She will be there Vail. Although she cannot do much yet, she should still witness her sister's fourth birthday," I answer.
"Alright then, I will start preparing for the dinner. You take care of the servants and keep in contact with Venessa. When Kristy is about ten minutes away from the house, you can go get Aila so she does not have to wait long," he says and gets up.
"Ok then I will go talk to Venessa now and then get to organizing the servants," I say.
"Good, then let's reconvene later today to go over preparations," he says.
***
*Bzzt*
I look over and check the phone.
I put the phone in my pocket and prepare to go get Aila. I order the servants to head to the dining hall and tell Vail to get the food set up. I then start to walk towards Aila's room.
'At least, for now, Aila is just a normal girl' I thought to myself. When Saint Brandon sent over the list of Aila's stats and traits to Vail last week we got another look at the crazy blessings she had. We were once again reminded that Aila is not a normal girl, she was fated to grow up and become something great. We were not sure what we should do with the list but decided to keep it. Even if Aila is not a normal girl she will live a normal life like the rest of my children until she goes to the academy.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
I walk into Aila's room and see her staring at the ceiling as if thinking about something. I watch for a second before I pick her up and headed to the dining room.
I see Aila looking around as we are walking wondering what is happening. I smile for a bit when I see her curious face. 'See just a normal girl,' I once again reassure myself.
"Even if you are not normal I will always love you, your family will always be here for you" I whisper in a barely audible voice, which Aila did not hear.
As we enter the dining room I see Vail at the end of the table smiling at us. I walked over and sat down next to him. While I was holding Aila, he signaled one of the servants to get a high chair for her. After I put her in the chair I started to chat with Vail.
"So what's the plan for dinner?" I ask.
"Nothing much really, I just planned a normal dinner," he said.
"Are you kidding me?" I said surprised.
"Yes of course I am," he chuckled. "Tonight is a special occasion so we are holding a magic dinner, but since this happens to also be Aila's first magic dinner. This event will be extra extravagant," he said.
"Oh, a magic dinner. That is indeed an event for a special occasion, but usually, birthdays aren't used for magic dinners," I say to him.
"You came from a family without the practice of magic dinners. The Westbrook family has done magic dinners for centuries for all special occasions, birthdays included. Each patriarch of the household has had their own views on how magic dinners should be held. My father for example, before he passed down the title of the patriarch to me fifty years ago, he would hold magic dinners for Faerian holidays, imperial holidays, as well as other minor events like birthdays and the such. He made the name magic dinner tradition sound less important than it is, and he did this for one-hundred and fifty years. Now that I am in charge of magic dinners I try to keep them in moderation so they are special. The only reason for it today is because of Aila. Kristy's birthday is important but does not qualify as magic dinner status, but with Aila here I want her to remember this event so I allowed this dinner to be special. Aila's first birthday will also be a magic dinner with hopefully Allan and Keith here as well," he said.
"I... I see. Alright, then I guess that makes sense," I say as I hear a buzz in my pocket.
I tell Vail the information and we sit back and wait for Kristy to arrive.
After about a minute of waiting, we hear the door open abruptly.
"Mommy, Daddy I'm back from my visit to the city... hm? What's going on-" She said.
"Suprise," Vail, me, and the servants said cutting her off.
Kristy burst into a full smile and walked over the table gleefully and sat across from me.
"Mommy, Daddy why did you yell surprise when I entered the dining hall. This is just my birthday dinner right?" she asked curiously.
"It is, but we just wanted to surprise you when you came in," Vail said with a smile.
I looked at Vail confused for a second before he turned to me and winked. 'Oh so we are keeping the actual surprise a secret for now,' I thought. I then turned to Kristy and confirmed Vails statement.
"Oh okay! Then where is the food?" Kristy asked.
"Everything is still being prepared. Why don't you tell us about your trip to the city?" I ask her.
"Yah what did you get from the city?" Vail asks.
"Oh then I will talk about my trip to the city then," she said as she started to talk. She left with Venessa at around eleven o'clock this morning and drove to the city. When they got there they walked around looking at the shops before Kristy decided she wanted to talk to some of her acquaintances in the city. She stayed and talked with them for a while and then she had a late lunch. Afterward, she went back to the shopping district and bought a floral dress, a scarf, and a large magic stone. I asked her about the magic stone and she said it radiated a very beautiful animated blue and green color. I asked Vail to look over the stones properties after the party and he nodded in agreement.
When Kristy finished her story Vail clapped his hands.
"Good, sounds like you had a fun time in the city, but the fun has only started," He said as he snapped his fingers.
At that moment the servants in the room gathered into a formation and started to chant and control their mana. Seconds later a grand display of colors and elements started to fly around and envelope the room. Then dishes were thrown into the room and started to fly into formation. A group of servants in the kitchen then came out and started to chant. The dishes started to roam the room creating a lively world where the food was its only inhabitants. Vail and I then stood up and started to manipulate our inner mana and created our own displays and connected it to the big world created with magic.
During this scene, Kristy stood up from excitement and started the join in on the fun. She created a little rabbit out of mana and made it fly over to everything else. She then began to use the magic rabbit to catch the food. She then had the rabbit grab the food and bring it over to her plate. When the food landed on her plate she started to eat. This game of catch the food with magic continued until all the food was gone.
"Haha, this is amazing daddy you planned a surprise magic dinner for me?" Kristy asked.
"Of course, although magic dinners don't happen often outside of holidays but today is a special occasion, so I planned out a special magic dinner for you," he said.
"Really?" she asked.
"Yup," I responded. "Also because this is the first special event Aila is witnessing since her birth we thought to make it extra special," I said looking over at the wide-eyed Aila.
Kristy also looked at Aila and let out a large laugh. "Hahahaha, look how amazed she is. She looks like a frightened deer," Kristy said.
"Haha, yeah she does," Vail said. "Alright, since dinner is now over I shall excuse myself. I am rather tired after today's events," he said as he left the dining hall.
"I am also rather tired. I am going to go take Aila to her room and feed her. Do you wanna join me, Kristy?" I ask her.
"Yes mommy," she says with a grin. "Thank you for the wonderful birthday," she says as she gets up and follows me.
***
Currently, I am being carried by mom. Kristy is by her side and they are talking to each other. I on the other had was completely stunned by the events that happened in the dining hall.
'What... What did I just witness? That was absolutely amazing. So beautiful and elegant, yet it looked so cool and amazing. Mom, dad, and Kristy all looked like they had so much fun during this amazing event' I thought to myself. The event was a magnificent display of magic and how to control it. It had caught me off guard when I saw the whole room around me change into the scene of a beautiful prairie, but when I saw the dishes start to fly around and act like wildlife was the moment when I was stunned. I witnessed my father create a large winged wolf out of mana and start to swiftly hunt down the food. Mom created a large majestic fox that moved with the wind and chased after its pray. Kristy created a small rabbit and peacefully chased down her food. All three of them played a game of hunt for your food with magic. It was amazing what things you could use magic for. The entertainment shown by that magical dinner serves was something that anyone would enjoy.
I continued to trail off in my thoughts while my mother was feeding me. Kristy continued to talk to mom until she started to get tired and decided to retire for the night. Mom sat and just continued to feed me. After a while, she turned on the tv and watched some news on the state of this kingdom, or that's what I interpreted it to be about.
My mom sighed after some of the remarks that were said on tv and even muttered something to herself. She then pulled something out of her pocket and started to look at it. It was a note with words and numbers on it. I saw my mom looking back and forth at me and the note before saying something and putting the note away.
She eventually put me to sleep after singing me a lullaby and left the room.
***
I woke up later that night and began plans to continue my mana feeling exercises, but I found myself in an unfamiliar room. I felt a small weight on my body and turned to look for the source. I found that there were two arms wrapped around me hugging me. I try to turn my head to find the sleeping figure of Kristy hugging me in her sleep.
'Kristy took me out of my crib to sleep with me tonight huh?' I think to myself as I assess the situation. 'Well I guess breaks are alright every now and then' i think as I relax my body and begin to fall asleep again. That works until I noticed a pair of light blue eyes staring at me.
"Good morning Aila, I see you are also awake," she says to me.I try to understand her words as she gives me a bright smile.
I try to understand her words as she gives me a bright smile. I smile back and look into her eyes. 'Man her eyes are really beautiful' I think to myself as Kristy starts to speak again.
"You have really cute eyes, Aila," she says with a smile.
I smile back while trying to figure out the what she said. 'I really gotta start looking for context clue to put together words,' I think.
"Aww trying to copy my smile is adorable, Aila~," she says as she smiles again.
I once again smile at her and she laughs.
"Like this," she says as she puts her fingers into my mouth and starts to move my lips upward. "Smile," she says.
'Smile? smile,' I think back the word and put it into my memory. I am overjoyed as I have learned a new word and start to smile widely.
"Yes like that, just like that. haha," she says as she starts laughing. "Aren't you cute Aila. You're my cute little sister. Don't worry big sister Kristy will aways be here for you," she says as she hugs me closer.
The sensation of Kristy hugging me flowed throughout my body and brought a wave a happiness to me. I instantly try to hug her back as I feel my body grow more and more tired.
Being in Kristy's embrace made me drowsy and I soon fell asleep with my little arms partly wrapped around her.
***