The Root

One of the biggest benefits of having grouped up with the three former soldiers was that they now had someone to pull the cart that had been left behind.

Midori had been hesitant to ride in it like she were some kind of dainty princess, but all it took was a cross look from Rune to silence her protests. He had become even more protective of her since she confessed her pregnancy, and while there was a part of her annoyed by it there was another part that enjoyed the attention.

Until now no one had ever made her wellbeing into something important.

“Well aren’t you just a little princess,” Sahaela said teasingly as Midori sat comfortably in the back of the cart sipping gently at the canteen filled with chill water. A small pile of hides underneath her and a blanket over her lap it was hard to dispute. “You like it, don't you?”

“No! I’m just letting Rune fuss until he forgets,” she lied.

“Oh that boy won’t be forgetting anything when it comes to you.”

“That’s just because he thinks we’re destined to be together, the fantastic quart or something,” she waved her hand dismissively.

“The Fated Quarter?” Sahaela asked curiously, Midori snapped her fingers and pointed at her.

“Yeah! That. It’s only because of them that Rune does…” Sahaela had started laughing, “what? What!?”

“My dearest, the Fated Quartet are very real, but they also do not dictate the true path of one’s destiny. They show a path, it is up to that person to pursue it or pursue a different path.”

“Wait, but that’s…that’s just choosing your own future…that’s not…” Her face flushed further and Sahaela erupted into a melodious laugh.

“What are you two laughing about?” Rune said while looking over his shoulder. He’d offered to help pull the cart as well so they could work in teams of two.

“Nothing!” Midori answered slightly too loudly before clearing her throat. “Sahaela was just…making fun of me for something I asked.”

Once the ghostly woman drifted down again she settled down in the cart as if they were sitting before looking across at Midori with the cool, detached smile of a teacher. It sent shivers down her spine and she immediately sat up slightly straighter.

“Now...are you ready to learn the beginnings of magick, Midori?”

Her mouth went dry forcing her to take another sip from the canteen and then nod furiously. Ever since she was young she had wanted to learn magic. She had consumed so many stories growing up about a protagonist learning magic that it was hard not to let all of that colour what was about to happen.

“What you must first understand is that what we might consider magick, is merely the utilization of ones spiritual essence, something known in these lands as mana.”

It was not a concept entirely foreign to her; chi, prana, aether. The idea of a life essence was something permeating countless cultures in her world it was not surprising to find it similarly here, the only difference being in this world one could tap into it.

“Now the core principle you must understand is that all mana comes from the root,” Sahaela placed her hand just below her naval near her pelvis. “But it is like a muscle, if it is not used it withers and eventually dies. As we come from a more mundane word your ‘root’ is more akin to a seed right now.”

“Oh…kay,” Midori said only vaguely understanding. “How do we get it to…sprout?”

“Well now that, I’m afraid, is the more difficult route.” Sahaela took a long pause after that, as if she were trying to find a more delicate way to phrase what she had to say. “Merely living in this world shall water that seed and let it take root, for lack of a better phrasing. However as both you and I came here later in life our roots will never grow much more than what a child could do, parlour tricks. We must force it to grow rapidly, through application of various... cocktails.”

“You’re not poisoning my wife, witch!” Rune called from the front of the cart.

“It’s not poison, Rune!” She furrowed her brow slightly before adding in a quieter tone, “well not all of it anyway.”

“Uh, I’d really rather not poison myself.”

“Well it’s possible there are new techniques since I died, I don’t know how long it’s been but this is the only way I know.”

With a sigh of resignation Midori nodded, “okay, tell me.”

“Mixing Angel Tears, Basilisk Blood, and Flax Milk it induces a change within forcing the seed inside to adapt to the new environment.”

“That…doesn’t sound so bad,” she responding only knowing the idea of flax and how she probably should be eating more of it.

“It’s incredibly painful, I will not lie. You are forcing an aspect of your body to undergo the tremendous growth of however many years you’ve been alive. You’ve heard the term growing pangs? It’s like that, but if you could feel every part of your body undergoing that change. It’s like being forced to grow an entirely new vascular system.”

“Oh…” Was all Midori could manage. She had never been great at science, but she knew just enough to know how incredibly painful that sounded.

“And it could kill you!” Rune shouted before going back to the conversation he was having with Gray about the food common to Moana Mau’u; it turns out the man was something of a gourmand and wished to explore exciting new cuisine.

“I won’t lie to you Midori, it could.” Sahaela was looking at her now no longer like a teacher but a friend. “But you’re made of far sterner stuff, after what you did for me in that cave I know that you can pull through this.”

After a lifetime of feeling powerless, and unable to take charge of her own life she did not even hesitate.

“Okay, lets do it.”

-----

Apparently the ingredients were things relatively common in the environment they were travelling, which was as comforting as it was terrifying.

Basilisk Blood was apparently—and thankfully in Midori's opinion—not actual blood but the runny sap from one of the large ashen trees, which gushed out in thick crimson spurts as they cut deep into the bark. Angel Tears was the name of a rather beautiful drooping daffodil flower a milky white colour that grew at higher altitudes. Flax Milk was one of the more common as it was simply highly ground flax seeds strained multiple times through water.

The combined concoction was a slightly pale red, like blood had been mixed into a rather viscous milk; and while the sight was unappealing the smell was far worse. She had never before smelled a dead body, but having read enough dark fantasy she had an idea of what it might be; she no longer had to wonder though for the mixture smelled exactly like that, down to the sour, acrid smell so pungent one could almost taste it.

“Okay that… that is foul.” She said shifting away from the mixture Sahaela had had her concoct during the journey. It had taken most of the day to find the reagents, process them, and then mix them in the exact ratio she was told.

“Yes I do remember it smelling quite disgusting, but don’t worry the taste is so overwhelming after a second or two it won’t taste of anything.”

“Well that’s something I guess.”

Taking the concoction she did as instructed and simply swallowed it all in one large, horrendous gulp. It was far, far worse than she could imagine and it nearly seared her nostrils for the few seconds before it was then rendered completely and blissfully numb to all taste. Her mouth watered like she were about to be sick, and her vision suddenly swam as she fell back onto the ground.

The stars above began to pulse in a strange, esoteric rhythm that felt both comforting but also like one she had heard before. Inky blackness above suddenly gave way to splashes of purple, orange, and green that burst like confetti across the sky; but as they came so did the pain.

Violent stabbing all throughout her body, and a burning sensation that Midori could only describe as being akin to molten lead being poured into her veins. To say it was excruciating would be selling it short, it was so intense that even her ability to scream had been taken from her.

In the brief moments of lucidity she wondered if the pain of giving birth would be worse than this. Followed by wondering if it had been going on for minutes, hours, or what she feared most, mere seconds. During other moments however the pain would be so intense she could do nothing but thrash along the ground, held in place by Rune and Roy.

After what seemed like ages the pain finally seemed to lessen, either that or her body had grown accustomed enough to the wracking aches that she could sit up.

“You’re an absolute lunatic for doing this, you know that right?” Rune passed her the canteen while gently wiping sweat from her forehead with a cold compress.

She nodded and gathered her strength to respond before he raised a hand to stop her.

“Tell me your reasons tomorrow, when you pull through this. Because I know you will.”

Smiling in appreciation she laid back down and closed her eyes. Even with her eyes closed she could see the colours bleeding through, vivid and bright that caused her head to spin and ache. However right before falling into unconsciousness she saw a strange arrangement of stars in the sky that had not been there before, it looked almost like a door.