Chapter 7 – Ziru, the little magician

It was night, in a village with circular mud houses covered with straw. At the door of the farthest one, a hooded man left a basket.

After a few hours, a baby cried and a woman in her thirties came out.

His disheveled hair was black and short; his brown eyes hid her small nose; she was dressed dirty, in a loose men's t-shirt with laces, linen pants, and boots.

She looked around and decided to put it in. The interior was sparsely furnished: she lived alone in poverty.

The baby had black hair and eyes. She picked her up in her arms to calm her down and she was happy grabbing one of her locks.

In the basket she found a note:

«She is also a magician, take care of her, please»

She immediately approached one of her windows and looked around in fear. She was surprised that he knew her secret, since all of her comrades died.

After much thought, she decided to take her in, upset by the parents' lack of responsibility.

⸎

In a few days, without teaching her anything, she floated a stuffed turtle off the shelf; Hard-backed stories like "The Liar and the Wolf" of a hundred pages could not be lifted.

She realized her potential and decided to hide her from the rest; they were treated as enemies of humanity, their existence meant their extinction.

"Don't move from here, I'm going to work, okay?" she felt stupid, her talking to a baby.

She worked in the fields in the mornings and finished in the afternoon. When she returned she found her house in a mess, with utensils floating in the air and the girl happy.

She fixed the mess with magic and decided to put her to sleep before work so she wouldn't attract attention.

⸎

In just half a year, the girl looked five years old. She talked and read while she used her powers to move the stuffed animal.

Surprised by her growth, she decided to name her Ziru.

Becoming fond of each other like mother and daughter, the magician taught her different magic; they also went out to the forest to play and look for food. They began to sleep together and she told her stories.

She told her to never show his powers to others, as horrible things would happen to her.

⸎

After a year, she looked nine; violet spots appeared in her hair.

The magician had no idea what was happening to her. Worried, she forbade her to show himself in front of people.

Ziru, little by little, helped with the housework: washing dishes, doing the laundry, sweeping…

"I go to work. I have left new books on the table for you, you might be interested, Ziru," she mentioned happily as if it were her own daughter.

"Thanks Mom! Be careful!" she waved goodbye, she was a happy and energetic girl; she never went out alone and was attached to books.

⸎

At three years old, she looked ten; his spots did not change or increase.

She learned to satisfy herself and cleanse her body of impurities with magic, something that the magician could not achieve; but she ate normal, because it had no flavor.

One day, the magician was brushing Ziru's hair in front of the mirror.

"I hope to be an adult soon…"

"Why do you say that? Being a girl has its advantages."

"I also want someone who really loves me and doesn't take me for a girl: a prince like in stories." The magician laughed. "What makes you so funny?" Ziru asked embarrassed.

"Sorry, sorry; it's just, you're so cute. Surely one day you will find it." She hugged her from behind warmly.

"I wouldn't mind always being with you either," she commented, rubbing his cheek against hers.

This time it was the magician who was ashamed, and became sad, because she was not her real mother.

⸎

After a few months, she confessed:

"Ziru. Do you have a moment?"

"What's happening?"

She was afraid that she hated her, and she tried to tell her in the calmest way.

"I've been wanting to tell you for a while… You're actually an orphan, I'm not your real mother…"

"I knew it," she said calmly with a book in her hands.

"Eh!? How?"

"When I looked at you, as if I were using magic, did I sense it? Even if you are not, I love you as if you were the real one."

She looked surprised, she had never heard of such magic even from the best. But above all, she was glad that she accepted her as his mother.

"I love you too, no matter what happens I will always be with you." Both, smiling, hugged each other.

⸎

The memories were distorted as if a part of them were erased or modified.

Ziru still looked ten years old, but her hair and eyes were violet.

She was paralyzed; her face, which harbored life, had no expression and her eyes lost their shine.

The room, and even her, was dusty and cobwebbed.

Sitting, she held the hand of the magician who was lying skeletal on the bed.

Without doing anything, the magic satisfied her.

After several years, as if she were a doll, she entered the forest and wandered. After a whole day of walking, she fell to the ground.

She did not die or age, magic protected her; if she was hungry, that satisfied her; if she got a wound, that was healed; if something came close, that would push it away. She was the closest thing to a goddess.

She stayed asleep for centuries, waiting to perish. Lying down was the only thing that made her comfortable. She was still for so long that she didn't even have the mental strength to get up. She just closed her eyes.

Until one day it snowed and she was buried, it was not the first time; she was still sleeping and, for some reason, her body finally forgot the magic.

⸎

⸎

I regained my senses and existence; the light from the window revealed the sunset.

Even seeing his past I didn't understand what happened to her. She distanced himself from everything, she did not like to suffer; one wrong step and she would have been tortured countless times.

"Why did you fall asleep?" Nugu asked sitting in the chair.

"I'm not sure."

"…Huging is how you activate it," she clarified, waking up.

"Just like Nugu?"

"…No, she must hug something soft and inanimate. In your case I think she must have a soul."

"And why did we fall asleep? My power is instant sleep?"

"…Hahaha, it would be the best. I believe the goddess gave you that power, but it activates once per soul."

"See the past of others?"

"H-Huh!? Did you see mine too!?" Nugu revealed in surprise.

"Too?"

"…The counterpart sees yours."

"So have you seen it?… Compared to yours, it has nothing special. But it's strange, I didn't hug Nugu, and she even had time to call Mugon."

"Y-Yes, I saw it, I'm sorry… I also fell asleep when it arrived."

"It's okay, it's not that I'm hiding it."

"…I think you hugged her as soon as you were a god. At that moment your soul was still assimilating it. That's why you felt dizzy and became unconscious. Nugu called it and upon completion it activated; then, Mugon put her next to you."

"How can you know that?"

"…Because I am a hybrid of an elemental being and a magician."

"Elemental being?"

"…When I was alive I never realized it, they told me that it was Yuta who knew about it. They are perpetual creatures from a different plane, they travel through magic and, with their eyes, they are experts at sensing what surrounds them; although I'm not that expert."

It was something like having the feeling, it was strange for someone normal.

"When will you stop hugging me? And what need was there to be in bed?"

"…Hahaha, you wouldn't mind being like this either, right? And none, thé." She hit himself again.

"I won't deny it. But is it okay for you to stay? It's getting dark," I excused so she would let me go.

She hugged me tighter, Nugu was nervous.

"…Ah~… I feel tired. Would you help me get back to my turtle?" she excused as if she were a weak child.

"With that strength, no one would think that…" I got up and took her in my arms.

"…This is not bad from time to time, haha."

Even with that outgoing personality, his face expressed the same thing as a corpse.

In her past she wanted someone to love her, but she never grew up and anyone would treat her like a child; Nugu would be a similar case. Treated like children for millennia without being loved, to what extent was it right to treat them that way?

"…Hey… Aren't you hiding something?" A asked with a strange tone.

I looked at her face, her eyes were wide open, it gave me chills.

"Not that I know. What should I hide?" I left it on her turtle and stroked Nugu's head.

"The way you move the turtle, is it because of magic or the powers of the gods?"

"…It's because of magic; no matter that she is now a goddess, I am still an elemental mage."

"You are leaving now?" Nugu asked worried.

"…Yes, sorry, next time let's all play. She should wake her up before… you know: she's alive or she's not, that's the question."

"Wait," she stopped her, grabbed a set of light clothing and left it on her, "the spare."

"…It's my turn to be a mom, thé." she hit herself and stuck out her tongue. "Thanks, Nugu, see you."

Finally she left, leaving us alone:

"What did you mean?"

"She lives with Mimi, a girl… somewhat suicidal: she always locks herself for hours in narrow places like barrels or chests. And she, well…, has sometimes died from suffocation from that mania… —she explained worriedly.

"It must be hard for A to take care of her."

"She's used to it. But don't think badly, Mimi is a good girl, it's just that she can't control it…"