Chapter 2: Parents

I heard the front door open downstairs as someone entered the house. Victoria was talking to someone with a manly voice before a barrage of footsteps sprinted up the stairs.

“Esther!” A man barged into the room. The first thing I noticed were his clothes. Leather armor outfitted with metal plates and clinking on his belt was what appeared to be a genuine sword.

“Oh, I shouldn’t have left you!” He held my hand, pressing it against his head as he knelt by the bed. I could smell something familiar coming from him. It was a smell I knew all too well; the smell of blood.

“You must be my father.”

“Oh my Goddess it was true!” His eyebrows scrunched together as he seemed ready to cry. Not expecting him to answer, I looked toward my Victoria for the answer. She had entered the room after him and was consoling her husband.

“Say hello to your father, dear.”

He was a handsome man. His sharp jawline was devoid of hair and his obsidian eyes were looking at me warmly under his jet-black hair. Sweat had come together making small streams running down his face. His broad shoulders covered by the armor looked to be from the result of rigorous training. The same could be said for the other muscle parts.

Victoria explained to him how after he left for the three-day hunt, she had to call over a priest to heal my body. Holding onto her small sliver of hope, it was ruthlessly crushed when he suggested she prepare the ritual intended for the dead. This all happened before I opened my eyes.

“I knew those people were quacks!” Gale bellowed.

“Watch what you are saying!”

“Why else would healing magic not work! They must have sent some unqualified dolt!” He looked like one of those demon paintings the temple had on its walls. I never understood why they hung them up.

“I don’t know either, but please calm down.” She pleaded with him. It was only then that he noticed the situation. Messy armor stained with blood, dirty sweat covering his face, and he stank. He took a moment to collect himself. “So she doesn’t remember anything?”

“I think so, she even asked who I was…” Victoria broke out into a sob, again.

“Oh honey, come here. I didn’t mean to make you cry.” Now it was the wife’s turn to be consoled.

I watched them silently, as if watching a show or a play. Because that was what it felt like. A mother that tried her best for her sick daughter, and a father that came home concerned for that very same daughter. I had to suppress my laughter lest they find out that I wasn’t really her.

A new day welcomed me as the rays of sun lit up the room and woke me up. A pleasant smell of plants filled the room. Victoria had fallen asleep while taking care of me for the umpteenth day. She looked exhausted with her raised shoulders, although the smile on her sleeping face indicated otherwise. Sitting there under the light, the dust being lit looked like stars dancing around her. She really looked like an angel.

The body felt particularly well today so I decided to snoop around the house a bit. Sneaking past her, I went out of the room carefully, making sure not to wake her up. The first thing I wanted to see was a mirror. I still hadn’t seen myself. My parent’s bedroom that I have been using since I woke up didn’t have one.

Opening the closest door, a cozy small room greeted me. A bed, half the size of the one I’ve been using, sat against the wall. A desk with a matching chair was placed under a window pointing towards the forest in the distance. The trees were even greener than the ones at the temple.

I searched around the room for a mirror but found only some books placed haphazardly on the desk. They were all about plants and their medicinal properties. It was interesting how although I had never seen the type of script used in the books before, I could still understand the writing. Was this the effect of magic? It was cool enough.

A trail of sweat began painting my back and my legs wobbled a bit by the time I survived the journey back to bed. The small distance between the rooms seemed to stretch indefinitely as I waddled one foot after the other. Victoria had woken up from the noise and stretched her arms in the air like a cat.

“Good morning, sweetie. Did you sleep well?” At least her smiling face was more pleasant than her crying one. I nodded. “It smells like your father is cooking something delicious.” A mouth-watering aroma had filled the house and distracted me while I was snooping. Victoria gave me headpats again. It was warm. “Oh dear, do you have a fever again? You are sweating so much!”

Reflected in the muddy puddle was a face resembling Victoria staring absentmindedly at me. It looked like a smaller version of her, a small angel. I tried to emulate her smile but had to stop. Even my smile looked weird in this prettier body.

My body had gotten much better the past week with all the rest and food. Today I finally got permission to venture outside of the house. Yesterday’s rain had soaked the garden behind the house, covering every blade of grass with water droplets.

“Esther!” Victoria was calling from the kitchen window, “Want to give me a hand with breakfast?”

“Coming!” Standing up too fast got me a bit lightheaded, a feeling which had become far too familiar.

Yesterday, Victoria suggested I help her with preparing dinner, giving me some vegetables to play with. All I ever did was sleep and read the few books available in the house, even beginning to re-read some of them. I accepted her suggestion readily.

The kitchen had some interesting things. A stone that, literally, made water appear. A stone that summoned a controllable fire, making cooking easier than using a gas stove top. I had almost burnt down the temple kitchen when I tried to cook something there for the first time. They were aptly called magic stones.

“Do you need me to show you how to cut them into cubes?” She always asked me whether I knew something or not.

“I think I got it.”

It had been a while since I last held a knife. Folding each of my fingers around the handle. My hand wasn’t the same size as before but I could still feel the weight of the knife. I gave it a few flips, it was a terrible knife.

It had been a while since I last held a knife. Why, I didn’t think I would ever hold one again. Folding each of my fingers around the handle, an emotion began to rise up in me. This hand was smaller than before but I could still feel the weight distribution and overall feeling of it. Flipping it over a few times, I came to the conclusion that it was a terrible knife. It felt upsetting.

“Is it too heavy?” Victoria asked.

“No, it’s fine” It was not fine. The balance of the knife was out of whack, making one need to use more energy than necessary. Not to mention the dull and nicked blade edge, catching the morning light like a shattered glass as I inspected it.

Despite my inner complaints, I still made quick work on the carrots, cutting them into suitable pieces. Helping the monks in the temple prepare dinner was routine. I had originally wanted to make a dish to give back to the monks, and seeing my knifework, they asked me to help in the kitchen whenever I had time. I had a lot of time.

“Did you get better at cutting vegetables?” Oh, I got carried away. “You must have gotten it from me, my daughter is so talented!” Victoria gushed and gave me a squeeze.

“Mom, I’m holding a knife.” Mom, mom, mom. I don’t think I will ever get comfortable saying that three-letter word.

“Sorry, sorry, you’re just so lovely! Are these stars?” Victoria studied one of my pieces. “Pretty cute…”

“I think they taste better as stars.” I placed the knife down, making sure the tip pointed away from us.

“Hmm.” She didn’t agree? “Come here!”

A full on hugging attack. “How is my daughter this cute!” I didn’t like Victoria. Nonetheless, whenever she hugged me with her warm arms, my heart ached. Whether it ached in a good way or a bad way required a few more hugs to know.

Setting the table for three, Gale came down the stairs groggily.

“What’s for breakfast today?” He asked, slumbering toward his seat at the end.

“Vegetable stew and fried potatoes.” We were now all seated. “Phew, you better wash up afterwards. I can practically smell the alcohol coming from you, how much did you have yesterday?”

“I didn’t even get to take a sip, some guy spilled his whole cup all over me”. He took a spoonful of the stew. “Wow, is it just me or did your cooking get better lately?”

“It’s a secret ingredient I added recently.” She smirked mischievously.

“Poison is it?”

“What nonsense! Why would I poison the same food as Esther and I are eating.”

“She didn’t deny it…” Gale murmured to me.

“What you are tasting is the sweat and efforts of our daughter. She has helped me out in the kitchen lately.”

“Really? She did feel more mature lately, but to think my child is now all grown up…” Fake-wiping his fake tears, he gave me a few pats.

“I should give a gift to my now all grown up daughter, say it and it shall be yours.” He said theatrically, eliciting a chuckle out of his wife.

“I don’t need anything.”

“She really did go and grow up…” Gale slumped his shoulders. “How about this?” Rummaging through his pockets, he pulled out a silver coin.

“Isn’t a silver coin a bit much, honey? You could buy a day’s worth of food with that.”

“This is nothing, wait until you see this.” Leaving the table, he came back with a book in hand. “I heard you were interested in monsters.” It was a monster lexicon.

“Whoah.” I could finally see what the monsters looked like.

“So my daughter likes monsters more than money, noted”

“Where do you keep finding these books? Aren’t they expensive?”

“Don’t worry, I got this for less than that silver coin.”

Flipping through a few pages, I understood why she didn’t worry too much about her husband going out and slaying monsters. Each page had a picture and a description of a monster. A rabbit with antlers, a deer with four eyes and other animals with an assortment of features either added or subtracted. Well, I guess you could call these weird animals monsters.

“Speaking of, you know the people I met yesterday? We are currently figuring out the last details about a really good job. A lot of money is sure to be paid out.”

“Really? Who are they?”

He explained how some fancy people from out of town had come here to find something, and needed people to show them the way. They wouldn’t give more details until they finalized the contract.

“We won’t have to worry about money for a while if my gut instinct is correct!”

“This sounds too good to be true, I’ve never heard of guarding duty being well paid.”

“Well, by the way she was acting, it looked like the leader was a noble. I would know.”

“That makes sense…”

I guess nobles splurged more money than necessary, they sound rich. Anyway, how should I spend this silver coin?