Author's note: this chapter is from Seraphina's point of view

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After making sure I remembered the things from my dream I am about to write down in my journal, I frowned when I remembered what day it is.

This is the third day since Aldus left, and he said that he will be back in less than two. Should I be worried? I cheered myself with the thought that maybe he arrived during the night. I will ask the maids.

I forced myself out of bed. It's time to get ready for the day.

"Young Miss, may I come in?", Maria's voice was heard from the other side of the door after a quick knock.

Since the incident with Lazarus, Maria is extra-attentive toward me, and in this case, I suspected that she stood in front of my door and listened carefully for any sound that would tell her that I'm awake.

"Come in, Maria…", I responded.

She came in and greeted me with a smile. "Good morning, young Miss. We have a wonderful day today. Breakfast will be ready in half an hour. Do you need help getting ready?"

"Thank you, Maria. I am fine. Did my father return?"

Her smile fell slightly. "No, young Miss."

I walked into the bathroom and as I closed the door, I saw Maria straightening the bedsheets on my bed.

I know that Maria is grateful that I saved her from Lazarus, but she really does not need to stretch herself in order to please me. I will talk to Aldus about this because I am not sure how to tell Maria to stop doing her work without sounding ungrateful.

While on the topic of Aldus, I hope he returns home soon because I am worried.

I told myself to stay calm. The work is probably more complicated than he initially thought. Or maybe he completed a deal and is celebrating with Lazarus.

I could not prevent anxiousness from bubbling inside me.

What will I do if something happened to Aldus? What if his relatives come and claim this place? Does he even have relatives? Without a paycheck, the staff will leave this place. What about me? My stomach tied itself into knots as these thoughts overwhelmed me.

Breakfast was lonely without Aldus. I kept my tablet in front and listened to the charming Italian man who spoke in longer sentences with every next lesson while subtitles floated at the bottom of the screen. I'm happy with my progress in learning Italian. I can keep a simple conversation and I understand a lot, as long as people talk slowly ('slowly' is the key).

After I was done with the food, I went to the library to continue reading the book on shapeshifters I found yesterday. It seems that other than werewolves who can shift into wolf-like creatures, there are other types of shapeshifters; like demons, dragons, and awakened animals that have the ability to appear humanoid. It's fascinating.

Somehow, I know that I never bothered with such topics because I was confident that it's some superstitious mumbo-jumbo mixed with imagination and exaggeration, but now I know that I lived in a world I didn't understand, and it's time to learn about it.

I don't have super speed or strength, and I can't change shapes, but I can learn fast and knowledge can be powerful.

After Aldus and Lazarus left, I holed myself in the library, searching for books on various creatures that are in English and I found a few. Besides shapeshifters, books mention other creatures as well and I hope that I will be able to broaden my horizons, figure out what Aldus is, and of course, what I am.

I find it amusing that somewhere along the last few days, I am growing into accepting Aldus's story that I died and he brought me back to life.

Aldus told me that he used essences of several different creatures in the ritual of reviving me and that there is a possibility I will poses their abilities. He didn't give me many details because he didn't want me to be fixated on those.

"I would prefer that you discover who you are without my influence.", was Aldus's explanation. He saw my disapproval, so he elaborated: "I can tell you that I gave you mermaid's voice, but if it was not compatible with you and your body rejected it, you will be disappointed that you can't sing a man into his own doom. I hope you will keep on your mind that you are unique and there is a possibility that some abilities merged and transformed. There is a chance that you have no abilities other than what we discovered, or maybe new ones are born and you need to find out about them. In my opinion, it's a miracle that you are alive and functioning properly; fast healing is an unexpected bonus, and the way your cells react with others is a mystery. The only thing I can tell you is to be patient and have faith in yourself."

"Is that related to why you believe my dreams have a meaning?", I asked, hoping that he will reveal at least a bit more.

Aldus smiled and bobbed his head while contemplating how much to tell me.

"Yes. One of the components was from a creature that has the power to manipulate dreams to the point of using them to gain access to the subconsciousness of others.", he said.

'Woohoo!', I cheered internally. It seems that I might be able to enter other people's dreams and take a peek. Ah, all the mysteries I can find! Can I manipulate them? Plant fake memories? Convince them to do something for me? I hoped that my expression didn't reveal my thoughts.

'Stay cool, Serina…', I told myself.

"You think that I have that power?", I asked casually.

"It's a possibility...", he responded and instead of feeding my imagination, he reminded me to focus on the present. "Your dreams are believable, coherent, and you are aware that you are dreaming. That tells me your dreams are not a random mix of reality and imagination. I might think that you are predicting the future, but in your dreams, you are younger than your current self, so I believe that those are pieces of your past."

Aldus didn't say more, but it was a clue that told me to take my dreams seriously and his words also gave me a hint of what I am.

Wait! Did he say that I could predict the future! This is getting exciting!

I remember that he named me Seraphina because of the ancient fire within me (his words). I wonder if I can shoot fireballs from my palms, or maybe squirt flames from my eyes. Maybe. Anything is possible.

On second thought, I'm not excited about the fire-power because I don't want to scorch my clothes or myself in the process. It does not look practical. However, dream-peeking is a different thing... unless I need to be at a touching-distance with my victim. Ah! Do I need to sleep as well in order to exploit someone's dreams? I shuddered at the thought of sleeping next to random people. That will NOT happen!

Now that I think about it, my two possible powers don't look appealing.

However, no matter how I feel about fire magic and dream infiltration, none of the creatures I read about so far has powers related to dreams or fire. Well, there is still a lot of books for me to read.

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