Christina woke up one morning feeling heavy. She doesn't know when it began, but life started feeling heavy. Like a weight on her heart that prevented her lungs from filling completely with air. Regardless, she continued living her life as any other member of society. Now 26, she was just another corporate slave working away while trying to figure out her life.
The day was just like any other. She went to the office, worked, had lunch, and clocked off. She talked to her parents, met her brothers, made plans with friends, and lay in bed. Another normal day. However, something felt weird that night. Her body felt out of place, her mind waving. Sleep took hold of her more quickly than it ever did. Before she could think more about what was happening, she found herself drifting off to sleep.
Next thing she sees is nothing. She hears her own cries which soon quiet down. The next thing she hears are voices echoing in her ears, not being able to make any of it out. Soon, sleep grips her again.
Her next memory is of when she is 5. She doesn't realize when it became normal for her, but at some point it was a life she became used to. There was no getting used to a smaller body, no confusion on understanding language, and things she didn't know she was able to learn easily. It was as if her soul and body became one and were growing together.
But her mind wasn't that of a 5 year old's. She understood things as soon as she became conscious of it. Anna, who had been with her since her first memory of this life, was not her mother, which she figured out pretty quickly. The world she was in was still in the early era of development, with empires and kingdoms. Her father, Severin Faylinn, was a count well known for his political and noble prestige. Her late mother was a daughter of a baron and was well known for her magical affinity.
Another fact that she soon learned was that she wasn't the most loved by her family. It was pretty cliche, if you ask her. A mother who dies during child birth, and the family blaming the child that came into the world while taking that life. Of course she would be hated. But honestly, it's not like she felt deprived.
While she got accustomed to her new physical form and her situation, the emotional toll of being shoved into a new life was taxing. That's the thing. You never know how good you have it until you can never get back to it. As Christina, she had parents who loved her (even if they fought sometimes), siblings that cared for and annoyed each other, friends that met up and laughed together, and a life she had built.
And yet she never understood why it was such a blessing. Living now as Aveline, she understood how blessed she was to have had that life. Once she became conscious of it, the first thing she felt was overwhelming grief. The idea that she could never go back to what she had. The next feeling she had was denial. All she could do was pray. Pray that she would wake up one day and be back in the life she had. Then came anger. So much anger that she couldn't understand it herself. She didn't know who she was angry at. Fate? God? Herself? She used to be numb to the life she had before. As Christina, she felt empty. She felt like she had nothing. She only now realizes what she had now that she has nothing.
Despite that, Aveline was glad to have Anna with her. It wasn't like she was being abused by her father or siblings, being starved or hit, and she could live peacefully in this small building with Anna taking care of her.
That was the next feeling she had. A quiet acceptance. She didn't feel happy. She didn't feel anything. She had come to accept what was, knowing that it would never change. Sometimes grief would find its way into her heart, on nights when she had trouble sleeping. The thoughts would rake her mind, images coming in front of her eyes, mind imagining what it would be like to go back. But then morning came, like every other day. She wouldn't know how she fell asleep, but she did. That's what mattered. And so Aveline chose to focus on the positives, however little they were.
Aveline never really thought about her father or brothers. She knew they existed because Anna would tell her stories about them, but to her they were vague figures she would never know about. She would sometimes hear the maids that visited the annex talk. About how Aveline was abandoned because she was a demon child. About how the Lord has probably already forgotten Aveline even existed. If Lord Faylinn had forgotten she existed, she would simply refuse to even learn about him in the first place.
As if fate laughed at her thoughts, it wasn't long before she encountered her father and brothers for the first time. The annex was huge, and the Faylinn house was even bigger. Aveline started roaming around the estate once she reached the age of 6 and Anna didn't feel the need to keep an eye on every little thing she did. It was during one of her discovery walks that she went too far in her exploration.
Aveline was walking around the huge estate trying to bask in the sunlight. The summer sun was harsh, the light blinding her sight. She realized how light affects a child differently from an adult. Her young sensitive eyes weren't accustomed to the strong sun. She would often be reminded of her childhood. The day indeed looked different when she was a child before, and she never realized when that changed as she grew up, but at one point it did.
With the harsh sunlight weakening her ability to look ahead, she chose to look down as she walked. It wasn't really a surprise when she bumped into someone like that. Looking up, she saw a young boy, maybe around 11 or 12 years of age. The boy was tall but had a boyish face, his brown hair forming short curls that dropped onto his forehead. He let out a "woah" as Aveline struck him with her head.
The boy looked down at her in curiosity with his eyes amber in the sun, until they soon changed to realization. "Are you.." he had just started when another voice primed up behind him. "Everett, What are you doing?"
Another figure started to come to sight. This one, a bit taller than the first one and seemed a bit older, maybe 17. He looked similar in features to the younger one, but his hair was slick and combed back into a neat look. "Rowan!" the younger one whispered, "I think this is Ava" he said excitedly, one hand holding onto his brother arm as if directing him towards Aveline while the other pointed straight at her.
The older one, Rowan, looked towards Aveline, eyes wide in surprise. They stared at her for a few seconds until she decided to break the awkward interaction herself. "Who are you?" she asked.
Her question seemed to have broken the older one out of his trance, eyes no longer wide. Everett started to reply but was cut off by the older of the two, who said gently but finally "No one you need to know. Everett, let us leave."
Before either of them could turn around to leave, a final figure walked closer to them. "I thought you guys wanted to leave quickly" a deep voice rumbled. Soon, a tall brown haired man appeared in her sight. This one was an adult, not youngish or boyish like the two that appeared before him. He looked rugged, eyes gentle as he looked at the two boys. However, these eyes soon landed on her, hardening as soon as they saw her.
Aveline did not need to ask who this person was. She had seen the portraits before in the annex building. She remembered the name Anna would always tell her. Severin Faylinn, the Lord of the Faylinn territory, a master politician, a powerful mage, and the father who abandoned her in an annex. He appeared much older than the portrait Aveline saw. Wrinkles had formed on his face, and eyes were heavy with age.
Aveline felt her breath caught in her throat. She would think back on it later and wonder why she was so frightened. She might have been 6 years old, but she was actually over 30 now. A woman over 30 was scared at the sight of another man that just appeared in front of her?
The man looked at her with the same harsh gaze for a few seconds, before he shouted with a booming sound, "Annalise!" The voice was extremely loud, causing Aveline to cover her ears with her palm and causing the two young boys to flinch. The shout echoed through the territory. It must have been made louder with magic. There was no possible way for a human to make such a loud roar.
What felt like an eternity of them silently staring at each other, Aveline pale from fear, Anna made her way towards the two, running frantically. She immediately lowered her head in front of her lord, shivering in front of him. "My Lord" she quivered. Aveline looked up at her, only then realizing that she was clutching on to her dress. Aveline could not understand the basis of her fear, but her body kept reacting naturally.
"When I accepted your pleas on leaving the demon who killed my wife alive, even going so far as to let it stay on my land, my understanding was the least you could do in appreciation was make sure I never had to see it again." He spoke calmly, but firmly.
It. Not her daughter or a human being. But it.
"Forgive me, my lord" was the only thing that came out of Anna's mouth. Aveline, too scared to speak, could only listen silently as her own father called her the devil.
"Make sure this doesn't happen again." He said, already turning around halfway. He kept walking, Rowan following him. Anna still had her head bowed, and Everret continued to stare at her, eyes gentle and slightly scared. "Everett!" the same voice boomed again, except this time not boosted by magic. Soon the child too turned away from her and walked after them. As soon as they all left, Aveline could feel the strength leave her body.
Aveline would still think about that day sometimes. She would remember the words her father spoke, the firm voice of her elder brother, and the bowed head of her mother-like figure.
"Oh Child, your father loves you" Anna had whispered to her gently that night, hand weaving through her hair. "Love is just buried under the pain. He thinks he must hate you. But trust me. Him letting you stay here, letting me take care of you, is a sign that love exists and is trying to keep the pain at bay." But Aveline did not care.
"Anna. It's okay. I have Anna. That enough." She replied. Anna, while happy, still felt pity for the child. She was unaware that Aveline actually meant each word and wasn't a young child pretending to not be hurt.
She did not want to bother wasting more time thinking about her father or brothers. She wanted to grow up quickly and get out of here. So she chose to continue her life as if that incident never happened.
As Aveline grew older, she realized how much better she had in her original world. With no television, mobiles, or camera, there was little she could do. At the beginning, she would pass time learning how to read and write from Anna, which she found out wasn't as rare as she thought it would be for somewhere that was, what she assumed, the 17th century. However, one thing she was happy about was the sanitary situation. She didn't think modern toilets or soaps were developed in this century. But it seems the availability of magic helped them create a lot of modern things. The same could be said about lighting in the house, warmers, and other tools that helped improve daily living, all of which powered through magical formulas carved onto minerals found deep in natural landscapes. These minerals were able to absorb and store mana and could be divided into ten times, each found in nature that resembles their mana type.
Luminite: A pale, faintly glowing mineral that are used for Light runes, illumination crystals, guiding lamps.
Aetherstone: Stone touched by ambient mana currents, used for general-purpose runes—protection, warming, barriers.
Frostglass: A clear, glassy mineral formed in extremely cold northern regions, used for cold or preservation runes, anti-rot storage, ice spells.
Emberjade: A deep red-orange stone that retains heat, used for warming runes, cooking stones, winter survival tools.
Manacite: A pure mana crystal in mineral form, used for powerful spells, guild tools, teleportation devices, high-end items.
Auracite: A stone that reacts to the user's aura, used for personal-use artifacts, identification runes, defensive charms.
Runeslate: A simple, dull-colored stone ideal for carving, used for everyday enchantments; cheap and widely used.
Lorynth Stone: A whispering stone said to hold echoes of ancient spells, used for complex runes, sound-based enchantments, alarms. This mineral could not be carved with formulas, and have applications built into them naturally.
Brimshard: Volcanic mineral infused with heat, used for heating stones, anti-freeze runes, smithing.
Solen Quartz: A warm-gold quartz that amplifies steady, controlled magic, used for household warmth, stable enchantments, clocks, timers.
These minerals allowed the human race to strive and develop even without the invention of electricity. Although, there could be many things that could be better, and she would be the one to improve them (although that is a story further in the future).