Chapter five: the welcome home chapter

The next day I had been safely discharged from the hospital with no further complication was taken home. ‘Home’ was a funny concept to me; previously it only referred to a place where I slept and ate, but here was a real home with actual family members.

It was just a moderately sized two-storey house in the middle of the residential district. My parents, or at least my background, in this life was quite affluent though not as far reaching as one may expect.

“What’s wrong, Corentin?” asked my sister as she slapped me across the back. Perhaps she was worried that my previous affliction had still some hold over me, but I calmly assured her that nothing was amiss.

“No, it’s okay, I was just feeling a little happy seeing our house after being in the hospital for a while,” I told her with a smile. The first step I took into this new house of mine brought along so many differing emotions: anxiousness, hesitation, joy and excitement. I turned the metallic handles of the door open and was greeted by the house – by my new life. The entrance alone was neatly maintained with some flowering pots lined up on the side. However, the biggest difference was in the lighting, or rather the existence of one. The furniture gave off a nostalgic smell despite it being the first time I’ve experienced this scent. The hardwood boarded floors creaked with each step I took. The lights above were just the right brightness and the walls were a marvellous shade of bright white making the place bigger than it actually was. The kitchen was visible from across the living room and my imagination instantly ran wild with the picturesque scene of my mother happily cooking food while we were playing just in sight. There were several rooms on the first floor with a few more upstairs.

“Let’s go up to your room!” my sister dragged me by the arm and took me upstairs.

“We’ll be having dinner soon, so be sure to get ready by then!” mother informed us as she readied herself to prepare the food.

My room was neat and orderly. There were no unwashed clothes hanging around, no stain marks on the carpet and it had been kept very luminate. A small bed laid at one corner of the room and across it was a small table with a laptop connected to it. It wasn’t anything particularly extraordinary, but this quaint little room felt rather cosy. ‘Yeah, I like this,’ I thought to myself content.

Maybelle rushed in and immediately jumped headfirst onto my bed. “Finally, home!” she announced as she stretched about like a cat.

“Geez, come on sis, you’re just kicking up dust,” I told her.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” she dismissed while snuggling up to my blankets.

Now that I thought about it, Maybelle was seven this year, which meant she was already in the second grade. “Sis, what’s school like?” I was curious as to how much difference there was between the educational institutions of this world and my old. If I recalled correctly from these jumbled memories, Maybelle attended a special government school. In fact, in this world all schools are run by the government and privatization has never occurred. I know it sounded like a utopian system but it was most likely so they could maintain a detailed record on everyone’s ‘Aspects’.

“Hmm? Just normal?”

“That doesn’t really answer anything. Specifically, what kind of things do you study there?”

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“Mm, like math and stuff? We also have language studies, history, and a bit of physical education.” As interesting as those all sound, that wasn’t really what I had been looking for. Thought, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I felt a little bit of relief knowing some of the old subjects I learnt when I was a child would still be relevant in this world.

“What about learning about Aspects? And magic?”

“Huh? You already know about the Aspects? Well, I guess you are going to have yours revealed this year,” she nodded to herself. “I can see why you’d be interested in those. Unfortunately for you, we don’t start learning about Aspects, magic and general combat related studies until we’re in the fifth grade,” she pouted. I pouted too.

“Is that so? Then how about-” as I was about to ask more questions, a call came from downstairs.

“Maybelle, Corentin, come down for a moment, we have guests,” our mother summoned us from below.

I turned to my sister to see if she had an idea of who it might be. “Oh, that’s right, while you were away at the hospital some new people moved in next door. It must be them!” she jumped down and head downstairs.

“Oh my, are they your children?” I heard the giddy voice of an adult woman who wasn’t my mother. At the entrance there were two people; a couple that appeared to be newlyweds. Aside from their youth they were fairly normal, if not a bit on the attractive side. “How are you doing, little ones?” the lady crouched down and greeted us. “I’m called ‘Anne’, and this is my husband ‘Richard’,” she introduced the man beside her. “We moved in next door a few days ago but couldn’t find the right time to greet you guys until today,” she said with a smile. Her appearance was around mid-to-late twenties, which would’ve been the same age as myself if I had still been alive. I mean, it’s not like I knew who this person was, but seeing someone that’s the same age as me having their life together made me quite envious, though I guess this life of mine wasn’t too bad either.

Speaking of which, my parents were on the older side as far as being parents went. My mother was in her late-thirties and my father was in his mid-forties.

“Hello, my name is ‘Corentin Helvetius’,” I greeted. There wasn’t a need to add the ‘de’ in between my name in informal situations like these. In the first place, I don’t know why we even had a noble title when we appeared to be just a typical middle-class family. My sister followed by introducing herself as ‘Maybelle Helvetius’.

“And finally, my daughter… oh, where’d she go off to?” the lady looked around and found a girl hiding behind our front fence. “Sherry, what are you doing all the way there? Come greet our new neighbours.”

“Huh?” I was immediately taken aback. A young girl timidly walked up to our front door and greeted us while hiding behind her mother. “She’s…”

“Oh my, how cute,” my mother complimented.

“This is my daughter, ‘Sherry’. As you can see she’s a ‘Pure’, but don’t let that get to you, she’s as timid as they come.” Indeed, this girl before me looked a little different to both her parents. She possessed bright golden hair like silk that flowed down past her shoulders, and a pair of brilliant emerald eyes. Her skin was also quite pale, which was in contrast to her parents’ which were a little more tanned. However, the most glaring feature of this child were her two long ears sticking from the side of her face.

“A pure Elf,” I accidently blurted out.

“Oh, you’re already aware of the Aspects?” the lady asked.

“Yes, my father explained it to me a little.”

“That’s great, then you shouldn’t have a problem being friends with my daughter. You see, she’s had a hard time fitting in because she looks so different to all the other children. Most of them don’t understand all the Aspect stuff, and even if we try to explain it to them they have a hard time grasping the concept. So, I’m glad there’s such a smart boy who can understand,” she pat me over the head. “I’d be happy if you and my Sherry could get along. What do you say?”

“Yes, of course,” I replied right away.

"That's right, we were about to have a celebratory dinner for my son being discharged from the hospital. If you don't mind, would you like to join us?" mother invited.

"Really? Of course! But why was your son in the hospital? Is he okay?"

"It was just a small flu; he's feeling better now."

"That's good. Then, why don't I help you with the preparations?" the lady offered.

"That'd be welcomed, thank you. Corentin, why don't you take little Sherry up to your room and play together?"

“Okay mother,” I took the little Elf girl’s hand and showed her to my room. “A Pure…” I whispered excitedly under my breath. “Fascinating.”