looking down at my hands, I slowly dragged my fingers across my palms, feeling how smooth they were without calluses. ‘I’m 16 years old in this body, but still just as small. I’m even more frail and weak. Man, I get two chances at life and I’m a runt in both.’
“You really didn’t notice your body was different?” Agis asked.
I felt flustered and a little embarrassed, not wanting to answer. I never liked talking about how I looked. Not in either life, so of course it was hard for me to give a confident response. “I wasn't very big in my past life either, you know… And wearing these clothes already felt a lot different…”
“I'm pretty sure we talked about this last time.” His tone finally relaxed again, and I got the feeling he was about to start teasing me.
I didn’t really mind it that much though. The heaviness in the air had lifted, and that was all that mattered. “Yeah, we did. It feels like so much has happened since then.”
Gently wrapping my fingers around my arm I felt the muscles contract and loosen as I wiggled my fingers. “Realy I was just glad I could feel my hand again.” I laughed, a little embarrassed still.
‘Good thing I don't have to go back yet. I'm not sure I'm ready.’
He let out a deep sigh still trying to keep the mood light. “Ok, but how could you not notice, I mean when I grew from 14 to 16 I got taller and gained some muscle sure but that wasn't the only thing that–.” He paused, noticing my glare.
“Please stop talking...” I grumbled, folding my arms in front of my chest.
He froze stiff, “THAT'S NOT!” He paused again, clearing his throat, making Things only feel more awkward as silence filled the space where his sentence should have continued.
After a while, he recovered, nervously trying to change the topic as he looked to the side again. “So you have some understanding of the history of magic in this country now. What do you think about it?”
He approached the topic carefree, but knowing full well the seriousness of it, I had to give my honest answer. “The more I hear about it the more ridiculous it sounds to ban and discourage magic. When I become queen that's going to be the first thing I change.”
“When you become queen?” He repeated, A big stupid grin crossing his face.
I organized my thoughts, double-checking to make sure I hadn’t said something weird again. “Well… Yeah, logically that would be the position where I could most easily influence the country, and the surrounding nations as well for that matter. So that should be my goal right?”
“I see…”
‘Did he want me to try and manipulate the ruler from behind the scenes or something instead?’
“All you need to do to become the ruler is prove you're the strongest, so I guess it's not complicated, but you’re not exactly that strong you know. Since you can’t legalize magic until after your queen then how are you going to become queen”
Something told me he already knew the answer and just wanted to hear me say it. “I just have to make people think I did it without magic. That doesn’t mean I can’t use it.”
He gave a worried smile “So that is your plan then. I think… Maybe your father isn’t the best influence on you.”
I nodded, my own mischievous grin turning to a genuine smile. It was hard to contain my excitement. ‘If I could become half as strong as that fire mage, but with a kind of magic that was invisible, like gravity magic for instance, I could not only wield heavier weapons but make them hit harder.’
“You should see yourself right now, you look scary.”
I snapped my eyes back up to his. “That's not very nice…” ‘What happened to all the sweet talk from before?’
He grinned back. “No, it's a good thing. I love it when stupid people get a little fear put into them.”
I wasn't sure how scary I really looked, but his devilish grin sent shivers down my spine as his eyes turned a shade darker and a mischievous anticipating smile crept over his face.
‘And I'm scary?’
He clapped his hands, getting caught up in the heat of the moment, and everything around us disappeared except for the large gates and Flicker, who slowly stood up from where she was resting.
“It sounds like you’ve slept long enough. I must say I’m eager to see how you’ll go about achieving this new goal of yours. It sounds like it might be fun to watch.”
The moment I saw the gate leading me back to my consciousness I felt the color drain from my face. I had avoided thinking about all that had happened, and everything I had learned, but it seemed unavoidable.
‘Just a bit longer…’ “OK. First, give me a comprehensive list of my powers.” In the end, I was just asking so that I would have an excuse to stay a moment longer.
He softly smiled, his eyes sinking slightly as if he understood my true intentions. “You can slow, stop, or speed up time, but this affects you the same as everyone else. You can analyze anything given enough time, as well as see people's opinions of things like opinion as quantifiable numbers.”
“So I can look at the world through the lens of a strategy game.”
“Right. That idea is the basis of your powers. You can also use what I would call a tactical view or a third-person top-down view of an area. These are the abilities you are familiar with in one way or another, but they aren't the only ones that you have.”
‘There’s more?’ “Ok, go on.”
“In regards to being in command of small groups, you would be able to see their statuses and positions, as well as everything they see. Issuing orders to them would be instant via telepathy, and you would also be able to easily assess their odds of winning certain fights, given that you can assess the enemy as well of course.”
‘It might be useless now, but I have a feeling that will come in handy someday right...’
“Finally, you have a new skill called Manna Well. It helps you regenerate your manna much faster than normal. It's also the only reason you haven't died yet…”
I laughed. “I feel like there are a lot of those, “Only” reasons that I haven't died.”
He let out a sigh, his smile dimming. “Yeah… You should work on that…”
I could feel my body slowly calling out to me. It was ready for me to wake up, even if I was anxious about it, I started feeling my senses merge as my physical body gently started to make small movements.
I let out a sigh of my own. Agis believed in me, made me laugh, and gave me hope and purpose, a break from all the pain and suffering. It was funny. Technically it was all his fault in the first place, but that wasn’t how I thought about it.
It felt like so long ago that he gave me a choice. ‘I said I wanted to keep living as Siya because I wanted to be like my sister… But I can’t help but think a part of me really just wanted to do it for him. It’s funny how bright rays of light shine in the darkness.’
I took one last look before walking through the gate, my mind at war between feeling joy and sorrow. ‘I wonder if, in the end, he’s just manipulating me too…’
With that finally thought I slowly let myself fall backward through the portal. My senses merged until my tired eyes slowly opened, feeling sore as they let in light for the first time in a while. ‘I’m back.’
looking down at my hands, I slowly dragged my fingers across my palms, feeling how smooth they were without calluses. ‘I’m 16 years old in this body, but still just as small. I’m even more frail and weak. Man, I get two chances at life and I’m a runt in both.’
“You really didn’t notice your body was different?” Agis asked.
I felt flustered and a little embarrassed, not wanting to answer. I never liked talking about how I looked. Not in either life, so of course it was hard for me to give a confident response. “I wasn't very big in my past life either, you know… And wearing these clothes already felt a lot different…”
“I'm pretty sure we talked about this last time.” His tone finally relaxed again, and I got the feeling he was about to start teasing me.
I didn’t really mind it that much though. The heaviness in the air had lifted, and that was all that mattered. “Yeah, we did. It feels like so much has happened since then.”
Gently wrapping my fingers around my arm I felt the muscles contract and loosen as I wiggled my fingers. “Realy I was just glad I could feel my hand again.” I laughed, a little embarrassed still.
‘Good thing I don't have to go back yet. I'm not sure I'm ready.’
He let out a deep sigh still trying to keep the mood light. “Ok, but how could you not notice, I mean when I grew from 14 to 16 I got taller and gained some muscle sure but that wasn't the only thing that–.” He paused, noticing my glare.
“Please stop talking...” I grumbled, folding my arms in front of my chest.
He froze stiff, “THAT'S NOT!” He paused again, clearing his throat, making Things only feel more awkward as silence filled the space where his sentence should have continued.
After a while, he recovered, nervously trying to change the topic as he looked to the side again. “So you have some understanding of the history of magic in this country now. What do you think about it?”
He approached the topic carefree, but knowing full well the seriousness of it, I had to give my honest answer. “The more I hear about it the more ridiculous it sounds to ban and discourage magic. When I become queen that's going to be the first thing I change.”
“When you become queen?” He repeated, A big stupid grin crossing his face.
I organized my thoughts, double-checking to make sure I hadn’t said something weird again. “Well… Yeah, logically that would be the position where I could most easily influence the country, and the surrounding nations as well for that matter. So that should be my goal right?”
“I see…”
‘Did he want me to try and manipulate the ruler from behind the scenes or something instead?’
“All you need to do to become the ruler is prove you're the strongest, so I guess it's not complicated, but you’re not exactly that strong you know. Since you can’t legalize magic until after your queen then how are you going to become queen”
Something told me he already knew the answer and just wanted to hear me say it. “I just have to make people think I did it without magic. That doesn’t mean I can’t use it.”
He gave a worried smile “So that is your plan then. I think… Maybe your father isn’t the best influence on you.”
I nodded, my own mischievous grin turning to a genuine smile. It was hard to contain my excitement. ‘If I could become half as strong as that fire mage, but with a kind of magic that was invisible, like gravity magic for instance, I could not only wield heavier weapons but make them hit harder.’
“You should see yourself right now, you look scary.”
I snapped my eyes back up to his. “That's not very nice…” ‘What happened to all the sweet talk from before?’
He grinned back. “No, it's a good thing. I love it when stupid people get a little fear put into them.”
I wasn't sure how scary I really looked, but his devilish grin sent shivers down my spine as his eyes turned a shade darker and a mischievous anticipating smile crept over his face.
‘And I'm scary?’
He clapped his hands, getting caught up in the heat of the moment, and everything around us disappeared except for the large gates and Flicker, who slowly stood up from where she was resting.
“It sounds like you’ve slept long enough. I must say I’m eager to see how you’ll go about achieving this new goal of yours. It sounds like it might be fun to watch.”
The moment I saw the gate leading me back to my consciousness I felt the color drain from my face. I had avoided thinking about all that had happened, and everything I had learned, but it seemed unavoidable.
‘Just a bit longer…’ “OK. First, give me a comprehensive list of my powers.” In the end, I was just asking so that I would have an excuse to stay a moment longer.
He softly smiled, his eyes sinking slightly as if he understood my true intentions. “You can slow, stop, or speed up time, but this affects you the same as everyone else. You can analyze anything given enough time, as well as see people's opinions of things like opinion as quantifiable numbers.”
“So I can look at the world through the lens of a strategy game.”
“Right. That idea is the basis of your powers. You can also use what I would call a tactical view or a third-person top-down view of an area. These are the abilities you are familiar with in one way or another, but they aren't the only ones that you have.”
‘There’s more?’ “Ok, go on.”
“In regards to being in command of small groups, you would be able to see their statuses and positions, as well as everything they see. Issuing orders to them would be instant via telepathy, and you would also be able to easily assess their odds of winning certain fights, given that you can assess the enemy as well of course.”
‘It might be useless now, but I have a feeling that will come in handy someday right...’
“Finally, you have a new skill called Manna Well. It helps you regenerate your manna much faster than normal. It's also the only reason you haven't died yet…”
I laughed. “I feel like there are a lot of those, “Only” reasons that I haven't died.”
He let out a sigh, his smile dimming. “Yeah… You should work on that…”
I could feel my body slowly calling out to me. It was ready for me to wake up, even if I was anxious about it, I started feeling my senses merge as my physical body gently started to make small movements.
I let out a sigh of my own. Agis believed in me, made me laugh, and gave me hope and purpose, a break from all the pain and suffering. It was funny. Technically it was all his fault in the first place, but that wasn’t how I thought about it.
It felt like so long ago that he gave me a choice. ‘I said I wanted to keep living as Siya because I wanted to be like my sister… But I can’t help but think a part of me really just wanted to do it for him. It’s funny how bright rays of light shine in the darkness.’
I took one last look before walking through the gate, my mind at war between feeling joy and sorrow. ‘I wonder if, in the end, he’s just manipulating me too…’
With that finally thought I slowly let myself fall backward through the portal. My senses merged until my tired eyes slowly opened, feeling sore as they let in light for the first time in a while. ‘I’m back.’
