Finley Cai Aies Regalis-Olcay May 23rd,20XX

My body sang in soreness as I slowly felt myself returning to consciousness. I started to try to open my eyes when I heard two voices, one of which was unfamiliar and the other unexpected.

“Theodulus!”

“HELOISE!”

They both yelled at each other like the other had murdered a family member and my heart jumped to my throat.

Okay, that was a poor analogy. A very poor analogy.

My own body fought against me as I tried to get up and my eyelids felt like they had been superglued shut.

I spread my consciousness around each part of my body and tried to stimulate each piece to move. It was weird to make a conscious effort to do something I didn’t usually have to think about, but I knew that my body was still trying to adjust to its new state of being.

In my state of paralysis and trying to regain control over my body I was forced to listen to Theodulus, and the stranger quarrel over top of my body, all the while channelling their magic into me.

It was an incredible feeling that was hard to describe like I was relaxing in a hot tub while being wrapped in the smoothest possible silk but without the grainy torture of wet fabric harassing my skin.

He had called her Heloise, a strangely familiar name that if I’d had the spare energy to pursue, would surely have revealed its origins to me. Instead of pursuing it though I chose to focus on waking up and seeing her for myself.

The more magic that flowed into me the quicker I could regain control of my body and could finally slightly wiggle my toes. I had been covered with a blanket at one point though, so the action went unnoticed.

I could easily recognize Theodulus magic from when I had been awakened before, but the other source was familiar despite my not recognizing who it came from.

It was warm and bright, similar enough to mine for me to be at ease around it, but it was stronger and purer. Like someone had taken my magic and run it through a sieve once or twice.

“I told you to hold back!”

“Is it my fault your goblin magic is so weak?”

“Weak? You- You insect with no self-control! Want to see how weak my magic is?”

“Oh, we’re trading insults now? Come at me beast! I’ll show you why I was the first place in my taming class.”

I wondered who it was that could trade insults so casually with Theodulus. I had panicked at first but quickly calmed down when I realized it was worry that sharpened their tones, not hatred.

Working slowly I conquered my lower half and moved to work on the top half of my body, unwittingly letting out a low groan as I succeeded. Theodulus and Heloise moved to either end of my body as I accidentally exerted too much force in moving my limbs.

Finally, I regained the muscles on my face and slowly opened my eyes to see three faces looking down at me with heartwarmingly worried expressions.

The first face I saw was a welcome one, Jake was still safe and looked down at me from over the top of my head with watery eyes, although even he didn’t seem to notice them.

“Finn! Are you okay?”

I nodded in response and even flashed as natural of a smile as I could muster in response while trying to get up.

“Reckless. How could you try to merge your fairy and goblin powers on your own? What did I say I would do if you got hurt?”

Ahh, that harsh voice that consistently spewed warm and caring words toward me.

“Grandad- great grandad-gramps?”

He scowled as the other man at the other end of the room made great efforts to not burst out into laughter. That was yet another stranger but he looked so much like Ion that if not for the bright red eyes instead of Ion’s amber ones, I would have believed them to be the same person.

“You, how can silliness be the first thing that comes out of your mouth after fighting for your life? That’s Votric by the way. I suppose you could call him your grand-uncle.”

Well, it was better than breaking down into tears and admitting how scared I’d been, wasn’t it?

I waved a friendly hi to Votric and turned to the last unintroduced person in the room.

Looking at her I didn’t even need an introduction, but I felt that I would like one anyway.

Metallic gold hair, a rounded and soft face, bright golden eyes, She looked exactly like the woman in the video I had seen when I had first gotten here, but no matter how much I wished for it, she wasn’t my mother. She was something close though.

The name, Heloise, finally clicked in.

“You’re my grandmother, right?”

My voice came out more cautious and timid than I had intended it and I hated the way it made me sound so frail, but once spoken words were impossible to take back, Or well not impossible but I didn’t think it was warranted to use a wish to turn back time just because I was a bit embarrassed. I also doubted that any magic I could do would impact any of the people here, except maybe Jake.

“Cai… Yes. Yes, I am.”

She started with my name, like she was going to say something else, but then trailed off and just answered my question.

Her expression was difficult to look at, and she kept looking at me like I was a small animal and loved slowly as not to hurt me.

She floated forward and placed a hand on my cheek, taking the chance to look closely at my face before suddenly placing a soft kiss on my forehead and wrapping me into a warm hug.

“Thank you, child. Thank you for living until now, thank you for not dying before I got the chance to meet you.”

I felt her tears hit the top of my head before I felt my own run down my face.

I didn’t know exactly why I was crying. Was it relief? Loneliness? Happiness? Maybe later on I would have to think back to now and assign it the proper emotion. But for now, I gave myself to the moment and let myself cry in the arms a woman I had met a few minutes ago.