Our father and uncle scribed their signatures, and each of us was in complete awe. You see, our Uncle Aether is the Imperial Regent of Miryudōra. Apparently, there isn't a royal family that rules the nation; rather, the royal family of Garyudōra appoints someone in their family to govern it. It was a bunch of political stuff that wasn't too interesting.
When our father and uncle finished, Myrlin and I had a plan; rather, we wanted to put on a show for everyone.
Four Months Prior Garyudōra, Ryudō-ShanGriLa; 17 Galdary 12R7X
Myrlin and I found ourselves in the manor's wine cellar, "Nīsama, mada dorehodo tōi no?" I asked as I continued to follow my brother down the cellar.
"The coast is clear!" Myrlin whisper-shouted in English.
"Are you sure we can be here?" I interrogated.
My older brother shook his head and sported a smug smirk, "If we get caught, I've got a way to escape."
The wine cellar was very dusty, but was stocked to the roof with wine crates; there had to have been at least six rows, each with barrels of wine. Myrlin climbed on top of one of the standing barrels and took a seat; I explored the cellar's many rows until I grew bored.
I met with my brother, and I had a question that kept eating at me, "Myrlin, what was your past life like?"
He looked at me and raised an eyebrow, "Well, I don't really remember much, but I did use to be a DJ down South in Mississippi and out west in L.A." There was a moment of silence before he continued, "I also spent the better half of my life dedicating my time, energy, and mental health to one person, all for them not to acknowledge me."
The air in the room was thick with emotional tension, "Mini, lemme ask you something." The sudden attitude shift in his voice went from somewhat resentful to businesslike and was pretty jarring.
"Yeah?" I wasn't sure what was going to come out of his mouth next.
My brother softened his face, "You're a reincarnation, right?" He and I had discussed very briefly that we were reborn here. What's this about?
"Yeah, you know that already," I don't really care for when he gets all cryptic, makes him seem like one of those "Red pill" incels from the old 4chan and Reddit history lessons I learned about in grade school.
"You like music?" Myrlin's eyes squinted as he asked.
I sucked my teeth, "Is that all? I'm from Memphis, baby, I love me some music! What you wanna know?"
He snickered before clapping his hands together, "OutKast, Bombs Over Baghdad, you ever heard of it?" He wore a devilish, yet goofy smile; whatever he had up his sleeve, I knew it was something that was going to be a lot of fun.
"That's literally a classic! I love Big Boi's verse, I used to sing it with my Ma back when—," that's right, Ma, it had been so long since I've thought about you. But you don't have to worry about me, I'm in a much better place, a place where I belong.
"It's okay," Myrlin said, leaping off the barrel, "We don't have to talk about the song."
I closed my eyes and shook my head in protest, tears of joy rolling down my face, "Please, it would make me very happy if we sang it."
Present Day
We had decided to perform the song Bombs Over Baghdad by OutKast for our family. Myrlin had tried translating the song to Ryubá, but there are a lot of words that don't have a direct translation from English to Ryubá, go figure.
So, we performed the song in English, but it didn't quite come out right. Our whole lives, we've pretty much only spoken English in private, and I guess because we both can speak the language, we can understand each other. However, when someone native to hTraé hears the language, it sounds both choppy and elongated. Nevertheless, we sang our song for everyone, and we managed to have a few folks clap along. This was our last night before we left for Caliburn, after all.
The Following Day; LeFey Forest, Ryudō-ShanGriLa; Diplomatic Carriage carrying the Wyllt family to The Caliburn Institute
The trip's start was uneventful; we passed by mostly foliage and vegetation. That was until a group of Lizardmen ambushed us and took Mama and Rubella hostage. Myrlin thought quickly and used some weird power that stopped time, kinda like the sundial Astaroth had given me.
In this "time-stop-space," or "chamber," as Myrlin called it, it essentially allowed us to move so fast that time was slowed dramatically, practically to a standstill. It gave us some much-needed time to get accustomed to our fresh new signatures that had only recently manifested, along with Jade's tutelage.
I wasn't too thrilled when I found out what my signature was: shadows. It's silly, I get it but taking into consideration my last moments in my previous life and visions that have been haunting me, it was safe to say shadows weren't at the top of my list. It wasn't all bad, though. I managed to learn a lot while we were in the chamber. I can work with shadows. Manipulate other people's shadows, and I can use them as spikes and projectiles. But with every perk comes its downside, and because I can manipulate shadows, it means I can feel everything a shadow feels.
Bones crunching when snapping the necks of Lizardmen bandits. The spiked pillars with Lizardmen organs falling from the decaying host. That was another thing: apparently, Myrlin's time-stopping ability has an enemy side effect that poisons the target, and corpses decay at an insane rate.
With an entire base of lizardmen disposed of, we made our way down to the dungeon where they held the captured elf kidnappees. Myrlin nodded his head, and each of us used our signatures to break the locks.
"Barakada ee Hooyadeenna Weyn Tiamatna, diid ilintaada murugada, le koriin qoorarka badbaado," one of the freed elves said while doing some sort of gesture that I can only describe as a praying mantra. She made a crescent shape with her right hand and wiped the corners of her eyes, and then she took two of her fingers and motioned upward from her forehead, kinda like she was making horns?
She did all this while chanting the phrase, "Nanin kaydino sida mid hoosta Hooyada Weyn ee Xaqiiqda." At the time, I didn't know any better. I thought she was this world's version of a Catholic, but that encounter would be one of the first of many that would set me on the path Astaroth mapped out for me.
We made our way outside, and the bodies were piled up; all of this death, and it came from my hands, and I could feel it; I ran to the nearest bush and vomited. Monspeed pat my back, "Take it easy Big Sis." I gave him a reassuring smile and wiped my face.
I wasn't going to give in to my fears anymore. I may not exactly like the feeling of death on my hands, but I understand that I'm going to have to overcome it. I led Monspeed back over to the rest of our siblings.
"Did you find them?" Myrlin asked.
"No, all the cells are empty," I answered.
When we huddled back up and went back into the chamber for the last time to look for Mama and Jade, I felt like something was off. It was minor, but I noticed something different as we transitioned into the frozen world. There was a second, more massive presence here with us.
It was quick, but out of the corner of my eye, I swear I felt that aura before. It kinda felt like, Daddy, no, Astaroth? Myrlin, it was no mistake. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that most strange things can be blamed on Myrlin.
But this was weirder than weird; the Myrlin that was in front of me was only a year older than me, and he hadn't left my side since this whole ambush started. The Myrlin that I caught out of the corner of my eye however, that was a full-grown man. He looked a little different though, his hair was platinum-gold, and he had locs, like our father; half up-Half down, but that wasn't all, it looked like he was running toward something.
When I came to, his presence was completely gone, everyone looked at me in confusion, "I think they may be that way," I pointed in the direction the adult Myrlin ran to, and we made our way.
The forest was easy to run through, and in no time, we made it to our mother, but it was too late. The leader of the lizardmen had stabbed our mother through the stomach; I ran over to her and covered the wound. A small bald boy was standing near Rubella, trembling at the sight of the blood.
I glanced over at Myrlin, and he looked like a completely different person. His presence matched that of the adult Myrlin's aura I felt earlier, and I could hear the beat of heavy metal music coming from the ground.
The Following Morning
We took refuge in a neighboring dwarven-giant nation called Albadorph; there, Mama was treated for her injuries, and the country's leader, Chancellor Clayton G. Aldorf, ensured we were well cared for. The country was unique; I'd always imagined dwarven-giants to be towering titans; however, that couldn't have been further from the truth. The chancellor and his wife looked to be roughly around fifteen feet tall, which was nothing to scoff at.
The country was one of a steampunk-like society, equipped with zeppelins, locomotives, and, of course, the signature smoky atmosphere. "I've already sent word out to Lord Chronos regarding the attack," the chancellor advised Rubella and Jade. "Until he arrives, however, please make yourselves at home; Gaidana and I have a guest house prepared for you and the children."
The chancellor appeared to be a rugged, stocky man with striking red hair and a thick, bushy beard. He had sky-blue eyes and an explosive personality; he was definitely a gentle giant. His wife, Gaidana Aldorf, was almost as stunning as my mother; she had long, platinum hair, rose-gold eyes, and ivory skin.
The couple was eager to divert our attention from the tragedy we'd just witnessed, and I appreciated it more than I could say. While we were there, we were introduced to the chancellor's newborn triplets; coincidentally, they were born around the same time as Boudicca, Atlas Aldorf, Nona Aldorf, and Nicholi Aldorf. Apparently, it's infrequent for Dwarven-giants to have multiple sets of children, and even more unheard of for a set of triplets to be born.
The three babies were absolutely adorable. Atlas looked more like his mother, with his rose-gold eyes and ivory skin; however, he'd inherited his father's hair color. If I had to guess, Atlas was likely the eldest and the one to be next chancellor.
Nona was a perfect mix of both parents, with soft, pastel-pink hair and heterochromatic eyes —one sky-blue and one rose-gold. She had a more olive complexion out of the three, likely due to her father's elemental affinity for fire. Lastly, Nicholi, the youngest, much like his brother, sported their mother's ivory skin and platinum hair; however, there was something about him that reminded me a lot of his father. Perhaps it was because it took seven nurses to settle him down for a nap.
Mama was being treated for her stab wound, and the infirmary's healer said she would make a full recovery. That's good, I thought; however, Myrlin was still asleep. He pushed himself to the brink yesterday, spamming his signature like that without cooling down. This was more than expected.
And then there was the elephant in the room, this boy who was with Mama and Rubella. They said his name is Iniko Wyllt and that our mother adopted him. I don't really understand why, or if Daddy is okay with it, but she and Jade insisted that he was worth keeping.
When Myrlin finally woke up, it had been two days, and the enrollment window was about to close. Mama was escorted back by Daddy, which meant Rubella and Jade were left to finish our enrollment. We made it to the school in no time flat, thanks to Jade's Momentum signature; we barely got to see the countryside. But the Institute was a sight that I'd rather see any day. The halls were adorned with gold trimmings and velvet ropes. There were paintings of all the administrators and teachers; these were some of the most dignified mages this world has seen, and we were getting to learn from them; it was a little unreal.
Myrlin, Iniko, and I found our way outside, where a familiar sight was taking place. Three bullies were ganging up on an innocent little girl. These are some clowns… There was an elf boy, a girl whose skin kinda looked like it was melting, and, as sad as this was, a Nightskinned Demon girl. Kinfolk, why? I internally screamed.
Myrlin looked at me and gave me this signal, "That's all I needed." I took a deep breath and revved up the cleanest punch to the face of the elf boy. I may have gone a little overboard and punched him again for good measure. At that moment, I could hear what sounded like embara forming into ice coming from the three bullies, and before I knew it, I saw that they were frozen from the waist down. We were approached by another student who looked to be about my age. She had dark auburn hair and porcelain skin.
The girl the three bullies had been picking on was Renata Faust, the daughter of the school's Headmistress. Usually, the kid of the principal or headmaster is some delinquent or the Student Council President —not someone so meek —but Renata wasn't bad; she was actually the breath of fresh air I needed. I've grown up in a house of boys in both my lives. I want some homegirls to gossip and do dumb girl stuff with. The other girl, the one with the auburn hair, was Autumn Winters. Apparently, she was a legendary ice mage called "The Aquarian," and she said she couldn't help but step in and assist me when Renata was being bullied.
One Year Later; Caliburn Institute; Female Dormitory Hall 3B; Coastal Federation of Avalon, ShanGriLa; 21 Yindowr 13R7X
Over the past year, I have kept a strict school-life balance, factoring in my morning training with my dear friends Renata, lessons in the chapel, and spell-weaving lessons with Professor Greenwitch. I even have enough time to spar with at least four of my five siblings.
"Hey, Nerva," Renata huffed as we did our morning run.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"Have you ever thought about ruling a kingdom?" Renata stopped in her tracks to catch her breath.
"What? What are you talking about?" I was starting to get confused.
"A kingdom, do you see yourself ruling a kingdom?" Renata often would make the most insane statements and questions with a deadpan face and expect me to play along, but this was different. She wasn't deadpan; she had a face of genuine curiosity.
"What makes you ask that?" It was like everyone in this world was obsessed with being cryptic.
"What do you mean," she asked curiosity turning into confusion. The two of us stood there, confused, and unable to cut the awkward tension. At moments like this, I never know what to do or say; "What do you mean, 'what do you mean,'" is what I'd like to ask back, but then I'd just come off as a bitch, and this was one of my besties for restie.
"You know what," Renata clapped her hands together, "Forget it, it was a dumb question, race you to the room!" Renata took off before I could even chime in.
What was that all about? I questioned.
We made it back to the dorm and got ready for Chapel. Every Wednesday morning, we attended Chapel for our studies in theology. It's a little weird to be not even a teenager and already be expected to understand how religion works here. But the religion actually helped me understand this world better.
Meladraconism or The Holy Dragon Church for the common folk; the followers of the patron goddess, Tiamat, filled this realm with the descendants of Dragons, Demons, and Fairies. It was in Chapel where I would learn about that gesture that one elf made and what she said, "Wipe your tears of despair, and Grow your Horns of Salvation," is roughly what she said. It is the end of a prayer, and it boosts followers' morale and grants them protection.
I felt connected whenever I entered the Chapel. I felt a sense of nostalgia for the giant mega churches that would pop up every other year. I'd never go, but seeing nonhuman people have faith, that was a wonderous sight.