My hands were trembling as I stared at the blood that stained them.
I looked at the body that was infront of me, laying in a pool of blood.
I breathed heavily as the feeling of fear overwhelmed me. He coughed out blood, the sight made tears well up.
I tried to stop the bleeding with my hands since for some other worldly reason my staff wasn't working when I tried to heal him.
The frustration was unbearable.
No matter how hard I tried, more blood just kept gushing out.
I yelled his name countless times, but he just kept on coughing blood.
"Come on kid, stay with me!"
It was useless. He was going to die.
Nothing I did worked.
Is this how it was going to end?
He was going to die right in front of me, and there was nothing I could do about it?
Pathetic..
I didn't realize when I started yelling for help.
I didn't know whether I was screaming in frustration because I was loosing my friend or screaming in frustration because I couldn't do anything about it.
Tears were still in my eyes.
He reached out and touched my face.
I stopped to look at him.
Then he smiled.
That effortless smile he always wore, even with all the pain he seemed to be in and all the blood he was loosing, he still smiled.
Then he spoke quietly - "Seth..It's okay"
He coughed. "Stop crying.."
"Strong people never cried. You told me that once, didn't you?".
Then he grinned.
This bastard..
He's grinning on his death bed!
He's just accepted death! Not even trying to fight it!
"Shut up you air head! Don't you know you're about to die!?"
I can't believe this, he's using my own words against me -when he's about to croak!
He chuckled lightly.
"Even if I die, I don't have any regrets. Because I got to meet someone like-"
"Shut it you cringy idiot! This is not the time for that!" I interrupted him, not knowing whether I was mad at him or not.
"You made me promise to always stay with you didn't you? You made me take an oath that we would never leave each other, didn't you?!" I said with tear in my eyes, my voice cracking.
He closed his eyes and smiled. "Seth, that was a long time ago-"
"I said shut up! I made a promise to my best friend and I'm going to keep it! I don't care if you die! Even if you do, I'll use my magic to bring you back as many times as I have to! Do you hear me?! Whether you end up in Heaven or Hell, I don't give a damn! You're not going anywhere without me!"
I yelled breathing heavily, tears rolling down my face.
Then my voice lowered.
"So please ...Don't die ..stay with me, I still need you..." I said in between tears.
He was quiet.
I looked down to see he was already dead...
I was about to yell.
But I already woke up.
I looked around frantically. I was in my bed. In my room. Everything was normal.
I was breathing heavily, trying to calm my self down.
"It's fine, just another stupid dream.." I said quietly to myself.
"What the hell Seth!? I've told you to stop screaming like that everytime you wake up! You always do this! Every damn morning!" Olivia yelled at me. -No, screaming in raw irritatation and anger would be a better word for it.
I just ignored her. She always yells at me.
Her petty anger changed to a dangerous glare.
"Oh, I see -So we're doing this now are we?" She said approaching me getting her staff out.
Olivia only gets her staff out when she means business.
It was her own pleasant way of suggesting violence.
I didn't flinch. I wasn't scared of her.
"You insolent, disrespectful little piece of sh-"
"Zip it Olivia, you know the situation your brother is in." My mother interrupted. Olivia basically resembled a wolf in submission to the head of the pack but still didn't back down just yet.
"But Mom! He's been doing this since he was two! Can't a mage get her beauty sleep in peace?!" She screamed before grabbing her staff, glaring at me one last time and "tching" before storming off angrily muttering something about killing somebody.
My mother just ignored her and approached me.
-Guess that's were I got it from.
Her glare softened when she faced me.
"Hey Sethy.." She said awkwardly as she shuffled sitting down on the bed beside me. "..you..okay kid?" She continued.
I glanced up at her.
She had unusually started calling me pet names.
Who knows, maybe she was trying to get closer to her poor misunderstood son but honestly -it just wasn't working.
It felt foreign.
"Mom..you can just keep calling me kid.." I said more coldly than I had intended to.
I didn't even intend to sound cold, and now I feel bad for sounding like that.
"R-right..kid.."she said awkwardly before looking down sadly
"..."
"..."
And there it was, that dreadful awkward silence I hated so much.
I wish I could kill it.
She cleared her throat, "Soo um er.. how are you feeling-"
"I'm fine...thanks"
"Come on kid, saying 'I'm fine' everyday for the rest of your life gets a bit old don't you think?"
"Really I'm fine-"
"If you want, I can cast a simultaneous dream spell on us, the next time you-"
"Mom. I said I'm fine I am not a child."
She just deadpanned at me
"Seth... You are thirteen years old."
She had a point there, but it didn't even matter because she had already tried and it did not end well ..for either of us.
"Seth, this is getting out of hand. We need to-"
"Mother! I just told you I'm fine!"
I didn't even realized when I raised my voice at her until she looked at me with hurt in her eyes
My eyes widened
"M-mom.. I-Im sorry it's just-"
"If your truly fine, then can you tell me why..."
She slowly pulled me into a warm embrace
".. you're crying?"
Something trickled down my face.
Damn it.
"I-its the visions..Everytime I wake up tears are already in my eyes I... I can't help it.." I said my voice low and shaky, hugging her back
"It's okay kid."
"I'm pathetic.."
"You're thirteen kid, don't be too hard on yourself, you'll get there eventually." She said reassuring me.
I wish I had actually been reassured by her words, instead I just felt worse than I already did.
I've burdened this woman more times than I can count.
She's always running around the place looking for herbs and spells to help me keep my mana under control.
She even went as far as casting that dream spell on us to find out why my night visions are always so intense.
That...
That did not ...go well..
I almost killed this woman with my vision.
And I hate my myself for it.
The doctor said once I enter a night visions state, my mana becomes even more unbearable and too toxic for any other individual to bare.
It leads to shortened life span..
And that's what my mother has now because of me..
"Seth.." I was pulled out of my thoughts when she called my name.
"Yes? I responded still holding my shoulders to look at my face.
"Did you learn any thing from this vision or..." She said tilting her head beginning with curiousity but then trailing off.
I shook my head in disappoinment before looking down..
"Name?" She asked
"No..."
"Appearance?"
"No..."
"Anything at all?" She said, a mix of desperation and frustration.
I sighed
"Nothing"
"So you don't remember anything at all about this mystery kid?" She said almost pleading.
I shook my head. "No, nothing. Just the usual -We were close"
She massages the sides of her head in circular motion as if trying to calm her nerves.
"Uh huh... But I don't really get it. If you kids were so close, why don't you remember anything about him whenever you wake up?" She said already sounding tired.
I had asked my self that question several times too but I had no idea myself..
"I don't really know either." I said tiredly.
"Uuughh, this is such a pain!" She said, flopping helplessly on the bed.
"I'm sorry mom..." I said feeling useless once again.
She must've noticed the self-loathing in my voice because she suddenly stopped complaining and tried to change the topic.
"Hey, don't apologize kid. It's not your fault. We tried our best, let's just forget about it for now. We'll figure it out later." She said perking up, trying to take my mind of it.
"So what are your plans for today? Because if you don't have anything doing, you can come downstairs and help mommy here with her rusty old tavern!" She said cheerfully trying to get me help with her bar downstairs.
I am not doing that. That's Olivia's job.
I do not want to spend my day with that sorry excuse for a sibling.
"Actually mom, I-"
"Okay, okay I get it. Bartender work is not your thing. That's fine, no problem..." She said sounding too convinced.
"But you can help me fix my motorcycle! What so you say kid? You down for some good old mother-son bonding time?" She said blinking at me expectantly.
As much as I love spending time with this woman, the last time we tried to bond over something as materialistic as a motorcycle ended with me crashing into a lake.
-That was why the motorcycle needed fixing in the first place...
"Sorry mom, I was planning on trying to practice my magic and get my mana under control." I said trying not to sound disappointing.
"Hey, that's actually a great idea! Go on! Get going! Make sure you practice in an abandoned forest or something." She said as she grabbed a cloak and handed me my staff.
I stared at the cloak and then at her.
"Isn't this-"
"Dad's cloak? Yes, it is..." She said, her voice lowering and her eyes softening, wearing a warm smile.
"I thought it would look good on you, given you look a lot like him." She continued as she placed it over my shoulders and fastened the centre peice in the middle.
I just stood there in silence, clenching the cloth.
Her eyes saddened.
"What? You don't wanna wear it-"
"N-no! Thats not it! I just..." I hesitated.
Then she pulled me into a warm hug.
"I know kid... I miss him too.."
"...Thanks mom." I said.
She just smiled before releasing the hug.
"Alright kid, hurry up and get out of here!" She said said pushing me out the door.
"Show that forest what an overpowered with mana kid looks like!" She yelled after me.
I turned back to see her grinning, waving a good bye at me.
I smiled.
I went down the stairs, staff in hand feeling much better.
Maybe things will go well today?
No. I will make things go well today.
This will be the day I finally get this stupid mana under control.
I'm sure of it! Today is going to be-
"Hey kid!"
I stopped in my tracks.
Not this again.
The half drunken man cleared his throat dramatically before yelling.
"I thought this place had a toxic work place, but when I saw you pass by I realized it was just your mana!"
Every old geezer present burst out in barbaric laughter.
Yeah, that was a terrible joke.
I've heard far more insulting jokes about my mana than that geezer could ever come up with.
But for some strange reason...
It hurts just as bad..
I clenched my staff, feeling pathetic.
The man suddenly screamed in pain, followed by a sizzling sound.
I looked up.
"You crazy bitc-"
"Oh sorry! Did that hurt? I didn't realize you were there, which is actually a very terrible lie given that you're so fat it's kinda hard to miss you." Olivia said sweetly as though she was handing out candy.
She had accidentally-intentionally spilt hot tea all over the man..
Which is actually very hard to get away with as an "accident" because we don't even serve hot tea.
This is a bar.
"Oh and by the way..." She said using her staff to make a quit portrait of him.
"You're banned." She said coldly as she posted it on the Banned For Life boared that hung on the wall.
"What!? You can't just-"
"Yes, I actually can ban you." She interrupted as if she had expected it.
"For harassing the relative of the employee, the employer and the owner. That's a three-in-one crime, jackass." She said already shoving him out the door.
She dusted her hands in triumph.
"That settles that, and hey! If anyone else tries that shitty attitude with my family, consider yourself banned as well! Got it?"
They all exchanged glances with each other before quieting down
She smirked in satisfaction. "Mmhm, that's more like it..."
She said placing her hands on her hips.
I just stared at her
..huh.
That's strange of her.
She's usually the one rejecting the fact that she even has a younger brother, and all of a sudden she's defending me?
Maybe she's not as bad as I thought she was.
"Er..Olivia... Thanks for-"
"Don't even think for a second that I like your presence. I despise when you are around me so don't be delusional about this whole situation and forget everything you saw here you misfit." She said coldly, grabbing her staff and turning to leave.
Ah. I guess I spoke too soon.
"What? Weren't you going somewhere? Hurry up and leave!" She said glaringly at me.
Yep, that's the elder sister I know..