The Root

One of the benefits to 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 initially 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 protestations. 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 well being a priority so earnestly.

“Well aren’t you just a little princess,” Sahaela said teasingly while Midori sat comfortably in the back of the cart sipping at one of the canteens filled with chill water. A collection of hides had been used to line the cart and she had a blanket draped over her lap.

“You like it, don't you?”

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

“Unlikely. That boy won’t be forgetting anything when it comes to you.”

Midori flushed and waved her hand dismissively.

“That’s just because he thinks we’re destined to be together, the fantastic quart of milk or something.”

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

“Yeah that! It’s only because of them that Rune does…” Sahaela suddenly 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 merely show a path, it is up to that person to pursue it or carve a different path.”

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

“What are you two laughing about?” Rune asked 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 in the cart as if they were sitting before looking across at Midori with the cool, detached smile of a teacher waiting for class to settle.

It sent shivers down her spine and after years of cultural training 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 before furiously nodding.

Excitement did not feel like a fitting enough word to describe what she felt. Growing up her only escape were the fantastical books, comics, and shows she watched and had longed to learn magic from a very young age.

She remembered a particular event when, during the summer break while visiting her grandparents, she discovered an old abandoned well. And hoping it would be the answer to her prayers immediately leaped down it, only to find it full of brackish water and bugs and not a portal to a magical world, a world where she belonged.

“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 entirely surprising to find it similarly here, the only difference seemingly 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, just above 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 our ‘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 is enough to 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; forever a sapling. However, though the application of various…cocktails, we can force it to undergo a rapid growth.”

“You’re not poisoning my wife, ghost 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.” Her hand slowly shifted to her stomach, "and I'd definitely rather not poison my future child." The words were like ash in her mouth, the lie of them. In truth there was still a large part of her that hoped this might lead to a miscarriage.

“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. And as far as I'm aware it will only affect you.”

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

“Mixing Angel Tears, Basilisk Blood, and Flax Milk then ingesting the mixture, induces a change within the body that forces their ‘seed’ 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 pains? 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. As it turns out the man was something of a gourmand and wished to explore the exciting new cuisine now available.

“I won’t lie to you Midori, it could.” Sahaela was looking at her now no longer like a teacher but an equal. “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, 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…what is this even used for, like besides this?”

“What do you mean?”

“This can’t only be used for people like us, that’s like…weird. Does it have other uses?”

Sahaela nodded slowly, “I’ve seen it used as a magick restorative, after particularly strenuous rituals.”

“Ah okay, so we’re using it off label.”

The ghost woman tilted her head in confusion.

“Sorry, modern speak.”

Taking the concoction she glanced at it only briefly wishing she had not done so as it’s murky reddish-brown colour and chunky consistency did nothing to increase it’s appeal. Taking a breath she did as instructed and simply swallowed it all in one large, horrendous gulp.

It was far, far worse than she could imagine and 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 familiar, like a nursery rhyme passed down through generations.

Inky blackness above suddenly gave way to splashes of purple, orange, and green that burst like confetti across the sky; but as soon they came so did the pain.

Violent stabbing all throughout her body and a burning sensation that Midori could only describe as something 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 and prayed for a miscarriage. 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.