5 Years

A flower of flames bloomed on her palm.

Not only did it defy logic with its pink colour, but the phenomenon wasn't hot despite being close.

My eyes were drawn into the light.

Reaching out towards it like moth; unconcerned for my own safety. It was such a strange feeling to me.

Like ethereal water flowing between by fingers.

As if there was air resistance without any motion.

"That's enough." Diana let the flame flicker out of existence. She then showed me a teasing look.

"Interested?" I didn't answer her. Only gesturing to her to do that again. AGAIN. Do that AGAIN. AGAIN!

"Awgain! Awgain!" My monotonous life was now filled with excitement. I wanted to see that.

Show me that thing you did earlier. NOW.

"Aren't you the cute one?" Diana seemed to be pleased by my reaction. Taking me to her.

But I didn't want her to praise me. I wanted her to teach me how she did that. Show me how it works!

"It's a little bit early, but I can see you want to know more… my little lab rat. Show me more of what you're hiding from 'them'." I wasn't sure what she was getting at, because I'd never hidden anything.

Clinging onto her when she took me to the room she had downstairs. A place like a laboratory.

The moment she opened the door, I could smell the scent of chemicals barely being hid by their lids.

She had quite the organised laboratory here.

No files were left out nor books were dropped. All of it was out when needed and shelved if not.

Making me wonder what Diana did apart from cleaning the house as a maid. It was so strange.

"Alright. Sit still now." Rather than giving me a seat of my own, she sat me on the table in front of her.

Looking at me while sitting on a chair.

I appropriately sat like she was a doctor giving me a health check. Trying to not fall off it by accident.

She put a piece of paper in front of her. Putting it just enough in my reach to let me have a touch.

This made me curious how parchments like this was made in a medieval world. Magic? …Magic.

Yup, it was definitely magic.

"Now, my little lab rat… Tell me, what is drawn on the paper?" She pointed at the shape she drew.

"Shircle." I tried to say 'circle', but it didn't come out right. The only good thing was she got the gist.

"Interesting. You know the concept of shapes without being taught?" Diana's words shocked me.

It looked like she hadn't stopped evaluating my mentality. I'd let my guard down by the simplicity.

"And what about this?" She asked without acting terrified of my strangeness. It made me feel weird.

Wasn't she scared of me…?

I was a few months old baby who could already mimic some words. It was cause for concern.

Although it was still limited, I knew enough words to be standing out amongst babies of my age.

I looked down on the square on the piece of paper and hesitated. Not sure if saying it would be right.

The words she said about how Mom Garcia and Dad Farhon knowing my strangeness popped up.

Surfacing to the top of my mind.

"Do you know this shape?" She asked, and I nodded my head rather than hiding my knowledge.

There was no point in trying to trick her.

Although I didn't know the word they used in this world for a 'square', I understood the concept.

"Do you know the name?" She asked, and I shook my head honestly. Awaiting her to explain it.

Time passed… and she taught me many basic things. Words I hadn't learnt before in this new language. I wasn't sure if she aspired to be a teacher, or if she really liked 'conversing' with me.

Rather than a regular back and forth using actual words, she was looking at my eyes… then reacting.

"This shape is a triangle. Do you know what makes it different from a square? You do? Point at the difference for me. Hmmm, you say that covering a point makes it a triangle? Good, then what if I at two of them together." Diana expanded on them.

After a good while, we were learning about hexagrams and polygons. The time passing easily.

I'd forgotten about my initial reason for talking to her at one point. Learning with her just felt fun.

We stopped using papers and used imaginary shapes in our minds. Gesturing them to each other.

She asked many questions, and when I wanted to know something myself… I'd charade my thoughts.

My body became more expressive with time.

But since I was still a baby, I gradually felt sleepy and blacked out. Unable to control my mentality.

The tiredness overcame me.

When I had woken up, I was back in my cot and had been woken up by the morning sunlight.

It made me wonder if last night was a dream.

But to my surprise, the way Diana acted towards me had changed. Being more caring than before.

She wouldn't even wait for my mother to hand me over while doing housework. Even though, logically speaking, it should've been the maid Diana doing the chores while my mother would take care of me.

I'd started to understand them more while watching. The dynamic these three had.

Dad Farhon was a swordsman. He was the guard of a village and was really good at doing his job.

He was a simple person.

The person more complicated was his wife.

Mom Garcia also knew 'magic'. When Dad got injured from training, she'd come closer to him and put her hands on his arm. Chanting some words I started to memorise from hearing it so often.

"I have faith in prayer, and ask the Gods for mercy and forgiveness. Be blessed… —Minor Heal!" She'd chant before a pure white light would extend from her hands and covered the wounded areas hurt.

It looked like Mom was a workaholic.

She knew the happiness of resting after work and enjoying her free time after many tasks were done.

A sensible mother and caring wife to her husband.

Wasn't this the ideal sort of marriage?

Hmmm?

This feeling…

While gazing at them getting all lovey-dovey from the window, a strange bitterness arose in my heart.

Memories of my own wife started to flow into my head. The relationship we had after marriage.

"Please me, and I'll take care of you too." Was what Samantha had told me on the day of our wedding.

This was how good marriages worked.

Two people pleasing each other.

A transaction of affection. Giving her whatever she wanted in exchange for her doing the same for me.

So why did it seem so different when they did it?

"Ouch!" On another day while I was looking at my mother doing the dishes from a chair in the kitchen, Mom Garcia cut her finger. It looked like her nail scratched her skin while cleaning them.

It made me react without thinking in trying to look for someone to help. Someone who COULD help.

Instead, Farhon came barging in.

"Did you get hurt? Are you feeling okay?!" Dad was scared for her health while checking her hand.

"This is nothing to me. Really. I'll just heal it up no problem." Mom looked reading to start chanting.

But was stopped by a hand lightly covering her mouth. The wound on her hand started healing up.

It looked like Farhon did something earlier.

I couldn't see what exactly, but it looked like a different method of healing from what Garcia did.

"Go rest. I'll take care of this." Dad removed his hand and sent her to go. She hesitated a little.

It made me wonder what he was doing.

Obviously, she'd disagree with him. This was what she wanted to do personally. Isn't this her thought?

But against my expectations, my workaholic mother agreed and left him to finish up for her.

I wasn't quite sure what I'd saw…

Rather than dwelling on it, I ate my baby food and was taken back to Diana's lab straight after.

"Hmmm, you're growing up well." This woman would simply look over me to know my condition.

No checking my teeth or joint motion. Just looking at me as if she was a snake wearing maid clothes.

An average European maid outfit with a long skirt.

"Why do you look weird at your own parents sometimes?" It looked like she noticed this too.

Diana asked this not with a scary look, but pure curiosity as if she was observing her specimen.

Seeing something interesting from me.

It had been three years, and I'd aged enough to be able to speak full sentences and understand this new language. The wonders of being a child was fully taken advantage of with Diana helping me.

These times we spent together were the most fun I'd have usually, but today my mood was weird.

Like there was a lump in my throat.

"You not talking means you're feeling something strong, but it doesn't look like sadness to me." She leaned in closer and brushed the hair off my forehead. Looking at my expression closely.

But I didn't want to talk about it.

There were some things I didn't want to talk about.

"Forget it. Do you finally want to learn how to do magic?" My mood changed with these light words.

She really knew me well.

"H-how?" I pushed through that lump in my throat and asked. Excitement overcoming whatever I felt.

"You don't think I was teaching you things for no reason, right? I want to see if you're really some fallen God or not." Diana once again brought up her strange superstition about me being some deity.

There was a misunderstanding somewhere.

Oh well, she can think whatever she want to think.

"First, I need you to close your eyes." She started to instruct me. Giving me no room to say a word.

I did exactly what she said while sitting on the table. My heart calming when focusing on 'magic'.

"Take your time delving deep. This process is the longest part, so you should take around a few years doing this to find your Vital Gem. It's a small piece of energy at the centre of your body. Buried within your organs." She started to explain it.

"Found it." I replied two seconds later.

"Eh?" For the first time, she made a sound that was really unlike the mad scientist I thought her of.

"I found my Vital Gem." It wasn't that hard. This weird thing was the only strange point I found.

Being sickly in my past life made me really self-conscious of the state of my body. Always worried.

Didn't think remembering where my organs were back then would come handy in finding this 'gem'.

Or rather, it felt more like a hotspot in my body.

Heating it up whenever I felt cold, and making me feel ill when grilling under the sun for too long.

"…You're probably imagining it. Well, let's say you found it by yourself. The next step is your energy sense. Connect with your Vital Gem. Move it around your body." Diana spoke while holding me.

Her hands wrapped mine.

After having found this 'gem', I found that breathing helped me concentrate on and manipulate the warmth. Although it wasn't as intricate as being able to do magic, moving it around felt refreshing.

A new experience different from my past life.

It made me want to test my limits. How fast could I make it move around? How deep is the rabbit hole?

I wanted to know more.

The warmth shifted from my heart, to hand, to brain, to foot, and bounced around everywhere.

Hmmm, why do I feel more tired doing this?

It wasn't like I was moving my body.

"Stop!" Diana called out to me. I stopped moving it around and felt the Vital Gem gravitate to its place.

Back to where I'd originally found it.

"You… Your senses are good, but this is only the initial step. Don't go overdoing it. Your Vital Gem is the source of your life itself. Never do anything to harm it or get it stuck somewhere that isn't the centre of your chest. Alright?" She spoke to me.

Her eyes looking serious.

"Okay." My now clear voice gave her the best response she could think of. I wasn't irresponsible.

One step at a time…

For the following two years, she taught me how to control and manipulate the Vital Gem inside my body. Making me realise that this small 'magic' inside my body definitely wasn't what she used.

I'm sure if I used it to create a flame, then I'd die instantly. So how was everyone using magic?

Why did it feel so uncomfortable moving that warmth around my body? As if it was hurting me?

Diana had me focus on moving around my Vital Gem without teaching me anything else, but I was patient enough to see that she was far more eager to teach me 'Magic' than I was in learning it.

It didn't take long for me to become a five year old child. Becoming closer to Diana than my mother.

Then finally came the day she taught me 'Artes'.