When Elizabeth was five years old, her mother came down with a strange sickness. The sickness had become simply known as the 'Magicless Curse'. The affliction only ever came to those with such little mana, their bodies simply didn't have enough to protect them from it. It came with no warning and was always lethal. Dr. Mitimus, being the only doctor in the village, did everything he could to save her. Sadly, the only thing he could truly do was fulfill her final wishes.
"Please, doctor, you know it's pointless. I'm going to pass away. But I don't want Elizabeth to grow up without a family. Please, I'm begging you, you and Dalia, to take her in, raise her, teach her how to use her magic, and help her achieve whatever she was destined to in this world." Jessa-Belle asks Mitimus as he uses his magic to rapidly vibrate a glass flask to mix an unknown solution to help Jessa-Belle's condition.
"Don't talk like that, Jessa-Belle, I can save you, I know I can." Dr. Mitimus uses his other hand to pour in a vial's deep, yellowish-green contents, while glancing in his pocket notebook with random pages of different colors sticking out of the sides at odd angles. "I've done an incredible amount of research in these components, with them all mixed at just the right vibration, I'm sure this could-" Dr. Mitimus then stops, both his magic and his pouring, at the sound of Jessa-Belle sobbing.
"Please just stop. I'm dying, you can't cure that. Everybody has to die at some point, I can accept that, but what I can't stand is the idea of my daughter's life ending too just because I can't be there for her." Jessa-Belle's sobs echo through the empty log clinic. "Nobody chooses when they die, but I need to know that my daughter will be taken care of no matter what. Your son already gets along with Elizabeth well, and I know it's not fair to put this on you, but you two are great parents. Just please... take care of my little girl."
Mitimus walks to Jessa-Belle's hospital bed and kneels beside it. "If, and only if you pass... Dalia and I will take her in, but please, don't give up on me, Jessa-Belle, we can beat this if we-"
Before Mitimus can finish his sentence, the clinic door opens and a five-year-old Elizabeth runs through, "Mama, mama! Has Dr. Mitimus made you feel any better yet?" Elizabeth asks as she runs up to Jessa-Belle's hospital bed and climbs in it with her.
"No dear, sadly, Mama's still sick, but don't worry about me, I'll feel better in no time, right doctor?" Jessa-Belle nods towards Dr. Mitimus, to which he nods back and begins walking towards the privacy curtain for Jessa-Belle's bed.
"She should be better any day now, Elizabeth," Dr. Mitimus swallows his lie down hard, clearly finding it hard to lie to the girl. "By the way, Elizabeth; Dalia, Dylan, and I wanted to wish you a happy birthday," He says as he reaches into his lab coat and pulls out a present wrapped up poorly in paper with little balloons of different colors on it, and a tiny red bow on top. The present was rectangular and rather thin as he handed it to Elizabeth. "Y-you should have your mom read it to you, it's a children's story that was around when your mom and I were kids."
"Now what do we say, Elizabeth?" Jessa-Belle asks as Dr. Mitimus hands her the gift.
"Thank you, Dr. Mitimus!" Elizabeth says excitedly as she grabs the gift from his hand, itching with anticipation.
"There you go, sweetie," Jessa-Belle smiles at her daughter, still as warm as ever.
"Well, I'll leave you two alone now, don't wanna interrupt your big day. Your mom told me you're already turning five whole years old. It feels like just yesterday you were a baby in your mom's arms. Anyway, happy birthday, Elizabeth," Dr. Mitimus says before turning and walking away, drawing the curtain behind him to give Elizabeth and Jessa-Belle privacy.
"Well? What are you waiting for, sweetie? Open it!" Jessa-Belle says with a smile on her face, wrapping her arm around Elizabeth's shoulder. Elizabeth begins tearing open the packaging, throwing the scraps of paper off the sides of the hospital bed, making Jessa-Bell laugh, and then cough, trying to stifle it the best she can in front of her daughter.
"Mama... I can't read that?" Elizabeth says as she tears the last bits of paper from the book that was underneath. Jessa-Belle leans to peer over Elizabeth's shoulder at the book she now holds. "T-The... ee... Eight!" Elizabeth stammers, trying to sound out the words to her mother.
"Good job, sweetie, you got this," Jessa-Belle cheers her on.
"M-mages! And the w-war of dragons!" Elizabeth says excitedly, giggling as she finishes the title of the story.
"Of course you know how to read dragons," Jessa-Belle chuckles and rolls her eyes, "But nice job, Elizabeth, you're starting to get good at sounding out new words."
"Thanks, Mama. Could you read it to me?" Elizabeth pushes the book towards her mom expectantly, looking up at her. "Please?"
"Of course, dear, but just so you know, this book is really scary, but I promise, the good guys win." Jessa-Belle slides the book over and opens it to the first page.
"Don't worry, mama, I'm not scared," Elizabeth smiles, beginning to look at the first few pictures in the children's book.
"Okay, but you've been warned," Jessa-Belle giggles, saying 'warned' in a spooky voice. "Alright, let's get started."
Long ago, there was a great war between the Dragons and the Humans. The Dragons started fighting the Humans, taking our lands and our sheep. But luckily, heroes arose to fight them. The Humans even had the gods on their side, in the form of Aquivis. Aquivis was a human-like, vengeful god, with flames hotter than even dragons' breath. Alongside him, the Humans had eight great, valiant champions. The first eight Archmagi of the kingdom, and together they fought the dragons with Aquivis, until they had finally sent the dragons back to where they came from. The war had left the kingdom in ruin, and with nobody else to turn to, the Humans turned to the eight Archmagi for leadership, and they built a new kingdom all together. But then, the vengeful god, Aquivis, turned on the great Archmagi, believing he should be ruler of the new kingdom, and demanding control. The Archmagi knew they couldn't let someone so power hungry and hateful rule the Humans, so they stood together once more and beat him. Some say that the vengeful god still walks amongst the Humans today, lying in wait to destroy the kingdom. But the eight Archmagi are still around today, and they will keep the kingdom safe just like they did so many years ago.
"Wow! That's so cool," Elizabeth says, her eyes lighting up, "Someday, I wanna be just as strong as the Magi, and fight dragons, and gods too. If that Aquivis guy ever comes back, I'll make sure to keep everyone safe just like they did."
Jessa-Belle laughs, "I bet you will, sweetie, with how strong your mana and magic are, you might be able to do just that." She smiles, looking at how excited Elizabeth was, yet her smile was sorrowful, as she knew she would not see the day her daughter would grow up and become who she was meant to be. In fact, she wouldn't even see her daughter by her next birthday.