Everyday, I Fight!

Once in a while, the dark prince would follow us in casual beggar-like clothes. n.o.body suspected a thing. On the other hand, I felt nervousness seep into me like the roots of a tree.

On evenings when George was either sleeping or went outside hunting with the general, Fred and the dark prince would scurry into my bedroom, for a night"s drink or sometimes for the rare serious conversations.

During my stay, as much as I learnt about George, I learnt about the dark prince.

George was very polite and gentle. His eyes like a hawk"s that could see far off places. It was an unique ability. But at a price... sadly, George, unlike the rest of the family, did not receive the elemental mana.

Elemental mana: The strongest type of mana there is. Only a handful individuals inherit this ancient ability... 1 in a million. Elemental mana is inherent and cannot be acquired.

People who have mana are not all elemental mages. They simply have "abilities" to adapt to their environment. Mana is general here. So every 1 in 100 children acquire it through time. However, Elements of nature, itself are not their skills.

It"s more or less like a system. Cruel. Yet, adaptable.

George had left home for the royal palace when he was 5. His ability is sought after and powerful. Especially because, one: he has a powerful lineage, two: his ability is extremely useful.

About a year ago, he shifted from the palace to the castle we visited, due to reasonable circ.u.mstances.

As for that dark prince, he was the one at fault for George"s stay in the royal castle. George is Charles" protector.

As memory recalls, I called Charles that on our very first meeting, when he poked his nose into our family"s business...

"Go on baby," Fred proudly commented, "do your thing!"

He had insisted and so I flew up and slapped him. His left cheek went bright red with the tiny slap mark. The three of them gasped.

Fred began shedding countless tears. How he wailed until I reluctantly told him I was sorry...

I sat back on top of the warm red cushion on top of the velvet table. There was a long silence as both the young boys stiffened up. They looked at me in disbelief.

"[I"m not a monster, you know?]" I told them.

"R-ri-right," George replied.

The dark prince just nodded.

"She"s a real handful!" Fred exclaimed with another wicked smile.

"[And you, my dear brother,]" I paused and saw his bashful face, "[a liar.]"

The dark prince burst into laughter. He mocked Fred, "Bet you"ve yet to learn your lessons...!"

"[I dub thee, Dark Prince.]" I snickered back at Charles, pointing my index finger right towards him.

"Accepted," he replied back, "my dear sister."

"Eh?" I exclaimed, puzzled by his comment.

George and Fred both exchanged glances and burst into laughter. They said nothing more.

"Long story," the crown prince ended the topic there.

George picked me up and asked, concerned, "Do you dislike being carried?"

"No," I nodded.

"You can talk?" George asked again.

"A little," Fred replied for me.

When Fred tried to grab me again, I flew out of George"s arms and on top of the dark prince"s head. It was as soft as the coat of a sheep. Felt strange because I had presumed earlier that I might fall off of his straight, dark and silky hair.

Fred crashed onto George, by mistake, like a ton of bricks. They both fell down.

Both the dark prince and I burst into a fit of laughter...!

"..."

I sighed, recalling those childish moments... how fast time flew by.

Bonding with the guys always felt easier than the girls. I"m a girl now. I was a guy before. Who will I be when I"m older? There wasn"t a choice or an answer.

I closed my eyes and sniffled back into my cradle. The bed back at the castle was much, much softer.

__________

___

The morning was bright as was the safe and comfort of the village that surrounded me and this tiny enchanted house of ours.

Mom was up, bright and early. Carmine and Helen were still in bed. Fred was whistling in the shower.

I was in my cradle, half awake, when mom picked me up. She was upset that I stowed away with Fred, with little Carmine"s help. Carmine was grounded for three whole days.

So I advised Carmine to "invite" her friends to a play date. This way, everybody was happy.

Mom became worried about this cunning little wild child.

Apparently, Carmine"s two friends happened to be those two brats from the birthday party before... the comedic girl and her big brother. Lacy and Coco.

Coco was Mace Varlo"s nickname. He was an ordinary kid at first glance. However, his powers were comparative to Helen, who was two years his senior. Already at Lead Cla.s.s, 1st Stage, Grey mana color.

Coco was an early bloomer and very protective of his family and friends... though he was sharp as well.

My list of problems kept piling up with all these new characters, popping up, in my life. Honestly, I wish for time to come back when it was just... no, nevermind.

If I had to go back in history and never met Fred, then I"d have lost J. So, might as well, just let it go. I mean, who cares? It"s still peaceful.

The sister was more troublesome though. Lacy Varlo. A duplicate of Carmine and even more of a disdain to handle! An unreasonable brat on top of that.

Coco didn"t know I could use telepathy and Helen alarmed me not to. Fred had the same opinion.

So whenever the duo arrived, I had to nod or say simple one or two words. Coco understood that I was rather intelligent for babies my age, but he had somehow had, a better opinion of me.

Lacy was rather provocative to me sometimes. She had this sulky face whenever Coco spent more time with me.

"Don"t steal my brother!" she once shouted in rage.

Fred was in the similar opinion and took every chance he got to brush up between Coco and I. Was he afraid? Was he jealous? What fun!

...

Anyway, time pa.s.sed quickly during the nights when I scoured throughout the study. Sometimes Fred or Helen was there with me. They never came together.

Apart from books, lately, I"ve realized more about my surroundings...

The village I live in is known as Ador. A remote village with approximately 2K population. It"s a bit far to the eastern side of the kingdom. A village known for its luscious supplies of fruits and mines.

Though there are more farmers and cultivators here, there are a few mines in the sides of the village, so miners are regular visitors. Dad, happens to be an instructor to most of the mines here. He basically owns them.

However, the mines are protected with magic, to prevent both outside and inside from eroding each other.

The Windstorm Tribe occupies about half of the village"s population. Before our family arrived here, the tribe appointed in Ador, was about 200 - 300 Windstorm members. So my family is pretty well-knowm here and everybody is on friendly terms with us...

Safety. Love. Friendship.

The three terms that we had to follow to reside in Ador.

TING!

The telephone rang. The living room was in silence as the golden ball of light cuddled within the translucent gla.s.s. Mom, Dad, Fred, Carmine and I were all surprised.

"I"ll pick it up." Mom said, nervous.

"He-h.e.l.lo, mom," an unfamiliar voice came into connection, "it"s me, Ririna..."

There was a pause. A few moments later, the shaking voice went on, "The connection"s bad from here. There is much to explain, later. For now, I"ll be-" her voice cut off.

The glow of the light was not fading away. Everybody lingered with suspicion at the back of their minds. The laughter filled room was no more.

"Sorry," a more clearer voice continued, "but I"ll be home soon. There"s a dangerous reason. Please be safe."

The golden light disappeared. It faded and mom was unable to tie the connection.

"Something"s wrong." Mom said instinctively.

"Yeah," Dad calmly replied, "Sorry, honey, for not telling you earlier on."

"What about?" Mom asked in a shriveled up voice. Her eyes, more and more unsteady.

"There"s something." Dad reluctantly exclaimed, "They know."

Dad had a serious and sour expression crumpled up on his face. He bit his lower lip so tightly, blood trickled out.

"..."

n.o.body answered. Only Carmine began to wail for some reason.

Mom lost her will to stand. She slumped down, unable to move, unnerved by the sobbing child.

Fred picked her up and tried to calm Carmine cuddling her in his arms. He had this uneasy expression like he was expecting nothing but bad news. He motioned his head to me and left.

I crawled right behind him. As fast as I could.

"What about George?" Mom asked as Fred was about to step out of the room.

"He"s healthy and secured," Fred replied, "he is studying and helping his highness, as well. George hopes that mom and dad would go and visit him sometime soon..."

Fred seemed grim. He sighed and stepped out.

I trailed behind him.

"I see," Mom sighed, relieved.

Fred closed the door. That was the last conversation I heard when we went out. I had some unanswered questions I hoped Fred would eventually answer.

"Wait for me in your room, okay?" Fred suggested.

"Mhm," I replied.

He left with his whimpering little sister.

__________

___

Night time was pa.s.sing on. Fred never came.

As tears rolled down my chubby cheeks, I crawled by myself, making my way towards the living room. Dead silence.

Mom and dad had argued all the way until they went to bed. I was left, forgotten. A feeling I was all too familiar with and didn"t like. Loneliness.

I climbed up to the sofa and onto the cushion. It was the peak of Mount Everest...! The feeling of exhaustion began to kick in.

The clock ticked by. I looked towards the bright lit sky that had been highlighting the darkness for so long... the moons were rotating. Rotation of the moons were symmetrically aligned.

A silver lining, or so it seemed, connected the moons almost too mysteriously. The stars were twinkling like the shimmering ocean water. Too many to count.

I gazed deeply into the maze of stars to catch a glimpse of an excruciatingly important sign... and there it was!

A shooting star!

In a flash it pa.s.sed by and as I searched for another, my eyes slowly seemed to shut. Enduring was my only option. It"s not like I believed in the miracle of a shooting star granting my ridiculous wish... but instead, I was willing to test it out. "What if...?"

I closed my eyes and opened them. Another one, was in progress. I quickly closed my eyes and desperately wished, clashing my hands with each other: "I hope that my family is reunited once again... and I can witness such a moment."

Re-opening my eyes, I saw the final glimmer of the fallen star, as it disappeared. Did it work? Hopefully.

Perhaps it did, but for some reason, my heart didn"t stop aching. As if, a premonition was going to unfold, good and bad.

_______

___

I was suddenly woken up by the noise of the family. Everybody was scattering and running all over the place. They seemed nervous, happy, excited and worried.

"Oh, baby, I"m so sorry." Mom exclaimed with dark eye bags, "Did you sleep on the couch?"

She glared, at poor Fred, with dagger-like eyes. I innocently put on a smile.

"You did?" Fred exclaimed turning to me, half apologetic, "I"m extremely sorry... I had to calm Carmine and then she wouldn"t let me go. In the end, I fell asleep on the floor."

They both sighed simultaneously as if there was more.

"Fred!" Dad"s voice echoed, "Where are you? I can"t find a d.a.m.n thing over here...!"

Dad and mom were still partially angry with each other, it seemed.

"I"ll take of it." Helen calmly explained, "Besides, how can someone who"s never home, ever know where what is?"

She glared at Fred and left. They were definitely water and oil.

Mom changed my diapers in such a hurry that it was tight. And heavy. I almost fell. So she had to re-do it again.

It was a waste of time and energy. Even the breakfast was half burned. It seemed like mom just wasn"t herself today and it made all of us worry.

Things seemed to go in a negative direction, especially when, Dad criticized her in front of us. Their argument heated up again. Mom was anxious about Ririna and Britney. She didn"t want George to be alone either.

Dad was mad at her for being unable to calm down. He was worried too, but now was not the time to cry and fuss. It was a necessity to calm down and take care of the family who were still alive!

From there on, things got complicated enough, for Fred to intervene. He advised them to stop their madness.

"There isn"t any time if we want to go," Fred sternly advised, "please think about your children and stay calm. I"m sure you"re anxious as much as me. But mom, dad," Fred"s voice softened, "what about the younger siblings, I have, here? So please."

It was a good excuse to buy time. And like all dramas in movies, the couple paused their bickering for a while, deciding to take the lead. Thank goodness!

I sighed with relief.

"We must get to the Flight Pa.s.s soon," Dad exclaimed, "Fred, pack up!"

"Okay," Fred replied and took me to his room while the others were distracted.

Honestly, even I was surprised by his sudden movements.

"Do not follow us," Fred said to me, eyeing like a hawk.

"[Why not?]" I asked tilting my head innocently.

"Flight Pa.s.s can be a dangerous place. Even teenagers get caught by slave traders."

"[What is a Flight Pa.s.s though? Isn"t it a ticket or something?]"

"No, Flight Pa.s.s is a place-"

"Fred! Not done yet?!" Dad"s voice barked as loudly and as madly as a starving wolf.

"Anyway," Fred hastily told me, "You stay here and protect the family. You"re probably the most powerful one here alongside Helen, right? So, don"t follow!"

He took me out of the room and went downstairs. Put me in my room and hurried off. Not even a goodbye.

The metal main entrance squeaked open and the rumbling sound of it ended. As fast as the cheetah, they were gone.

"Something"s definitely up!" I concluded.

Helen popped up, "Ririna is definitely coming..." she whispered to me as she gently picked me up, "let"s wait."

"Hey sweetie," Mom groaned meekly, "take care of the baby... mommy is tired, okay?"

"Yeah."

"Then, I"ll cook your favourite after I wake up!"

"Okay."

"Carmine wants to nap with mommy too!" Carmine insisted.

"Okay, but no bedtime stories..."

"Carmine is a capable adult sister!" Carmine looked at me and smiled proudly.

Mom giggled and took Carmine to our parents bedroom. Carmine was overjoyed and merrily went along. She had had a fight with Fred last night and couldn"t sleep properly either.

Now it was only Helen and me in the living room. Utter Silence.

"[Hey Helen,]" I asked, breaking the iceberg, "[Who is Ririna? How is she?]"

"Ririna is the Eldest daughter of the family, brave and kind..." Helen went on, her voice more softer, "She is also the second born child of the Windstorm Main Household."

"[You really admire her? Why?]" I asked as frank as I could.

"She is a genius mage. But above all, she was also the first female mage to be allowed to have the Premium card of the Flight Pa.s.s! She is a celebrity and a champion too!"

Helen was so smitten by her admiration by now that only vague answers came from her mouth. Either that, or plain compliments. So basically, Ririna was a star both in and outside of the family and had won plenty of awards, along with her prowess.

Despite this, I understood clearly that Eldest sister Ririna, was not a worldly traveler like Fred and I. She was a regular prodigy this world had to offer.

Apparently, Helen was the first born in our house in Ador. Fred, Ririna and Britney were born and raised back, in the Capital. However, our parents moved here after Fred"s "accident". Helen did not know the details. Just that, Fred was caught in a rift and mom was devastated, so they moved here to Ador.

Helen went from cuddling me, to choking me, so I broke free from her grasp. Almost died.

"[Oh, yeah, what"s the Flight Pa.s.s?]" I asked her.

"Not sure, since I"ve never been there myself but, it"s a place that is forbidden for children. You see," Helen sighed, "Flight Pa.s.s is a place for teleportation channels and the broom stations. Kids are rowdy and often cause a mess there or easily get lost. Only people above 15 are allowed to get into the place."

"You know a lot." I told her.

"Well yeah." she replied.

"I can speak."

"Looks like you"re still having troubles though," Helen replied, "Telepathy helps as exercise, so your brain remembers the words vaguely... eventually, you end up progressing to speech, much faster than the average baby."

"You know?" I asked wide eyed.

"Of course," Helen hesitated, "Fred and Ririna often taught me as a child. Though, I was never as good as you are."

Helen seemed down. Our conversation probably ended there as a dead silence followed.

__________

___

It was after dinner time when there was a loud knock on the door. As the Windstorm family knock followed, Helen, mom and I were over the moon with joy! Mostly, mom.

Carmine was still snoring in our parents bedroom. Apparently, she got so hungry and couldn"t wait... so Helen was forced to eat together with Carmine. Eventually mom ate Carmine"s portion of dinner, when the young Koala was unable to finish her meal. Afterwards, she went straight to the big bed.

The cradle was much smaller and I"ve always wondered when I might be obliged to have my own bed.

I gazed meticulously at the shadowy dark figures on the other side of the doorway. It was chilling cold. Unexpectedly, it had been snowing outside for the past three hours or so... a heartless wind evidently frosted my cheeks as the family came in.

I touched my tiny nose and found an odd temperature. Cold and light. I could feel myself inhale and exhale with each movement.

Harvesting season had already pa.s.sed last month. The falling autumn leaves felt like the memoir of a painting! Autumn on Earth was known best here as, "The Harvesting Season". Every farmer would harvest their crops and tuck them away in the temporal storage shed and sell them when Winter arrived.

Strangely, Winter was the only season here with the same name, as Earth. Summer was t.i.tled various different names.

A month of cool breeze was all that followed to Ador. It was unusual for snowflakes to greet us this early in season.

"You all must have been frozen outside!" Mom anxiously tended to them, "We were plenty worried!"

"Aye," Dad said with a fistful of bundled joy, "scared, heck no! I was astonished, more like." He joked and winked.

"It"s great to see you, mother." Ririna remarked.

"Ye-yes," Mom stuttered, hugging her back, awkwardly.

Fred and Dad exchanged glances and shrugged. Mom stiffened a little, but just let it go.

Helen made an uneasy face and frowned, "Eldest sister, remember me?" she asked.

"Oh my," Ririna smiled gleefully, "Are you Carmine? You"ve grown to be such an outstanding lady!"

Helen"s jaws dropped wide open. Her entire foundation seemed shattered.

Quick as a flash, a sword bared its fangs at Ririna"s back and slashed the empty floor. Ririna had jumped and almost escaped the blow, unscathed.

n.o.body so much as flinched. It didn"t take long for the crowd to realize what had happened. Then, Fred took hold of his brilliant sword once again, silently standing still.

"Are you mad, brother?" Ririna desperately questioned.

"Who are you?" Dad roared and tightly gripped his scabbard.

Mom went on mumbling and chanting something under her breath. She motioned Helen something.

Everybody had a grim and tired expression casted upon their faces. I, too, realized something was amiss.

"You say that you dyed your hair Auburn just to impress a guy?" Dad shouted once again.

"Yes, father," Ririna went on with a pale snow face, "why not?"

"Just because." Fred replied under a single breath and dashed towards her like lightning.

"Wh"

Ririna got a scratch on her left cheek, managing to escape one more time. She glared at him as she wiped the drop of blood trickling down her face.

"Congratulations," Fred positioned himself like a knight, pointing his blades at her a third time, "you just proved yourself, guilty."

Mom looked furious and terrified at the same time. Dad was in rage and his ama.s.sed power was barely keeping the house in one piece. And Helen? She was just super focused and super expressionless.

Nothing was alright.

"What do you mean?" Ririna insisted on her innocence.

She bolted towards the corridor connecting the living room door to the rest of the house, but dad blocked it off.

Ririna realized something was wrong and stopped mid-way. Otherwise she might have already been electrocuted. She turned and glared at us. Then, she giggled, finally laughing on hysterically...

...

"Hehehe," Ririna went on, "you ain"t no d.a.m.n fool!"

"Who?" I mumbled to Fred, still slightly afraid to use telepathy.

"A fake," Fred replied to me, angry and full of hate.

"Oh, come on," the fake shouted, "I was really gettin" sick of all the fu**ing fluff and cuddlin"... eww!"

Fred clicked his tongue and gripped his sword even tighter.

"Even if I"m out, you"ll never find those two!" the fake yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Two...?" Mom stared at dad in disbelief.

"Britney"s also..." Dad couldn"t bare to finish his sentence.

Suddenly, I felt a glare aimed at me and I flew, off of Helen and onto Fred. However, as I leaped, a shadow grabbed onto Helen. Fred caught hold of me by a hair"s length. I swear I almost got stabbed in the gut, by his d.a.m.n sword, caught in the moment.

Fred had to let go of his sword because of me. Everything turned into a mess! Helen was caught by that mental fake Ririna and mom and dad"s casual arguments also added another problem.

Carmine had entered the room, half asleep. She was in her pajamas and rubbing her eyes.

"Don"t struggle, dark haired brat!" the fake demanded.

A knife was held against her throat. Threatening us.