Crimson Rebirth

Part 24

 I was seven years old, a child with such a tenacity for life. So much so, that everyone in my clan rather enjoyed my shenanigans. As such, it was the day of my big brother's surprise party. He was going to be turning twelve, and still always made time to play with me. Mommy and Daddy had been planning his surprise party for weeks, and so while the adults got set up, I got to go play outside.
 
 I remember the evergreen dress I wore, that stopped just below my knees and the careful way Grandma had done my hair, telling me to be careful or else she would have to redo it. I stuck my tongue out at her, the only time I had been able to get away with it. As a child, I had never sat still for more than a few minutes, so doing my hair always took longer than it should. Mostly because I would run away the moment her back was turned.
 
 "Genevieve!" Daddy called out, as I giggled from my hiding spot near our house. My hair was already loose and wavy, and I knew I was going to be in for another lecture from Grandma. "Princess, where did you go?"
 
 I watched him walk right past me, thinking he didn't know where I was. Of course he did, but Daddy always played along. I barely stifled another giggle, my shoulders bouncing.
 
 "I guess I'll have to tell Brax that Genie is missing!~" Daddy teased, as I burst out of my hiding spot.
 
 "I found you!" I giggled, wrapping my arms around his leg, looking up at him.
 
 In my eyes, my childish eyes, there was nobody more amazing and kind than Daddy. His blue eyes were fair and just like the sky on a crystal clear day. His hair was just as red as mine and to me, he was as tall as a giant. He never let anyone go without, and always made sure there was enough to share. He never raised his voice at me, and always made sure we had time to play.
 
 I was definitely Daddy's Little Girl.
 
 He scooped me into his arms, kissing my cheek. "Hey Genie-" he always used his pet name for me- "do you want to help me with a project?"
 
 "What project, Daddy?" I asked, curiously. He rarely asked for my help with his spells, namely because I wasn't really good at them. It was part of the reason Mommy always did my lessons away from the others. I was better at making potions and medicine rather than doing an actual spell. Daddy was one of the few who never looked down on me because of my stunning lack of magical abilities.
 
 "One of my spells, I could really use my little girl's two hands to help me." He said, blowing a raspberry on both of my hands, causing me to squeal with laughter. "It'll keep Grandma from doing your hair again."
 
 Even without that second bit, I was already nodding my head. I loved helping Daddy, and he always made sure that whatever spell he was working on, that I would be safe for. He always wanted me to be safe.
 
 "Alright, come on, Genie!" Daddy said, toting me along to our house, the one that had been passed from generation to generation of Starglows. The flower garden under the front windows was immaculately kept, courtesy of Mommy and Grandma's hard work, and the tall windows let light to help Mommy's inside herbs grow. The cedar door opened easily and he carried me to his workroom, a heavier door in front of it.
 
 Brax and I weren't allowed in here unless we were with Daddy or Grandma or Mommy, because this was where Daddy did his stronger spells and kept his tools. The walls held old scorch marks, and in the center of the room, a cauldron sat over smoldering embers. A series of shelves lined the far wall, and a podium sat near the cauldron, one of Daddy's books resting on it. "I found a new spell, but I need the help of my little princess."
 
 "How can I help, Daddy?" I asked, eagerly looking around.
 
 "Just stand right next to the cauldron, and I'll give you more instructions in a few minutes." Daddy said, running his hand through my hair. "I love you."
 
 "I love you too, Daddy!"
 
 I didn't know that those would be his last words to me, didn't know that those would be the last I would say to his living face. He tossed a few herbs into the cauldron, and uttered a spell in a language I could barely recognize as Keatina, a language that very, very few could speak, much less understand. But one word he uttered would forever stick with me.
 
 "Iandokai."
 
 Immortal.
 
 His pale blue magic filtered around the room, first from the cauldron, then surrounded me and Daddy. In my eyes, it was a spell, and a pretty one that used his magic. It felt like a warm hug from an old friend, and I couldn't help but giggle at first, feeling the very breath of magic caress my cheek and hold me close.
 
 However, when I breathed in, it was anything but a hug. Every fiber of my being screamed in pain, twisting and contorting into sheer agony.
 
 As though I was being unmade.
 
 Every single part of me felt as though it had been run through a grater, every single tiny piece of what made me was taken, examined, and put someplace new.
 
 And it never occurred to me to scream. I wasn't even sure I had control over my body in that very moment, every single noise I could've made locked into my throat and then promptly taken by an unseen hand. I couldn't scream, I couldn't cry, I couldn't even whimper.
 
 The room felt searingly hot, and I swore I could feel my skin starting to bubble, if I had been able to see from the blinding light that overtook Daddy's magic. Everything hurt me, and in that moment, I felt the word hatred before I even knew what it meant.
 
 I hated him. I hated Daddy more than I had anyone else, solely for the fact that I was his experiment. I was supposed to be his princess, the one he wanted to protect, but instead I was a project, him wanting to see if he could grant himself immortality.
 
 By taking my life.
 
 And in the span of those minutes that felt like they stretched to hours, I felt like I was dying. I could feel my heartbeat slow, less and less air going into my lungs, the blood starting to pause in my veins.
 
 And just as quickly as the pain came, it slowed. Air entered my lungs easier as tears started to drip from my eyes. At some point, I had fallen to the floor, staring up at the ceiling as the only thing left burning on me was a golden design on my right wrist, one that looked like I was wearing a bracelet designed to look like a branch of a tree, leaves and all. It was simple, yet it burned like the sun into my flesh, as the branches and leaves contorted, spelling out a small phrase.
 
 "Ni a jor." I managed to whimper, and a sudden wave of calmness overtook me, easing my worries, my pains, my confusion. I could still barely move my arms and legs though forced myself to, rolling onto my side, looking for the one person who could explain what happened.
 
 Daddy.
 
 "D-Daddy?" I asked, seeing him laying on the floor too. He didn't respond, but he could've felt like I did.
 
 "Daddy?" I asked again, slowly crawling towards him, falling after every attempt. "Daddy, why do I hurt?"
 
 I finally, finally managed to reach him, a mix of crawling and using my feet to push me further along. I grabbed his hand, feeling it as cold as ice. "Daddy?"
 
 His blue eyes, once as bright as a summer's sky, were blank, his head slowly moving to look at me, a single phrase on his lips that fluttered from them with his dying breath.
 
 "I love you."
 
 I watched as the final breath of life left his lips, his words carrying the weight of an apology he never got to make. Tears dripped from my cheeks, and I felt so...... Empty. His eyes were glazed over, his skin cold, his body stiffening. The tears dropped onto his shirt, in perfect circles of wetness.
 
 It was then that I tried to call out for help. But even my mother, the best healer in all of Starglow Village, couldn't fix death.
  
~~~~~~~

 Just as suddenly as I had been seven, I was sixteen, sitting through a lesson with my grandmother. Every day, it appeared to be the same. Etiquette, housekeeping, leadership skills that needed to be developed. Anything she thought I needed brushing up on. She was hard on me, but when I looked into those wizened gray eyes, framed by red locks touched with white, I saw nothing but pride. She was proud of how I was doing in my lessons, proud of what sort of woman I was becoming, even after my mother's death barely two years prior.

 However, it seemed like today's lesson was going to be different.

 "Genevieve." Gran said, using her cane to move in front of me as I sat primly on the couch in the living room of our house. "Today, I am going to teach you the language of our ancestors."

 "Language of our ancestors?" I asked, tilting my head. The locks I had fussed over so mightily that morning were already loose, and I had all but given up taming them. "What language would that be?"

 "The same language your father used, may he rest in peace, when he granted you that magic on your wrist." Gran said, tapping my right arm with her hand. "It's old, far older than me-"

 "And you're exceptionally old!" I couldn't help but interrupt.

 If looks could kill, the one she shot towards me would've put me in my grave. "Ungrateful child." She snapped, and my toes earned a close stomping with her cane, and would've gotten stomped on if I hadn't quickly moved them. "But the language our ancestors spoke, far before we interacted with the outside world."

 "But we've never interacted with the rest of Terralis!" I interrupted again, and this time, she managed to bring her cane down on my foot, causing me to yelp.

 "Keep interrupting me, Genevieve Marie, and I will bruise your foot." Gran snapped again, rolling her eyes. "And we used to. Before the Wars, we interacted with the outside world much more freely, engaging in trade and commerce. But the Wars, they relied heavily on violence, and that opposes our own doctrines. So we stopped. ANYWAY. Before you so rudely interrupted me, I was explaining our lesson for the day."

 She paused a moment, as though to make sure I wouldn't interrupt her again, before she continued. "Our ancestors spoke the language on your wrist, and it's high time you learned some of it."

 "What's the language, Gran?" I asked. In those years, I had not known the name, not like I do now. 

 "Keatina. The original language of Starglow Village. Or, in Keatina, like my mother taught me, Kone Du Nui Gar. Home of the Night Flower." Gran said, settling down on the table before me. "It's time for your first lesson. I am Calm. Ni a jor."

 "Ni a jor." I repeated. "I am Calm."
 
 "Good." Gran said, nodding her head approvingly. "Next, we will work on your name, Genevieve. In Keatina, your name would be Hiajimi."

 "Hiajimi?" I asked. "Why would it be White Wave?"
 
 "That is what your name means, Genie. Hiajimi Ogelya Nui Gar."

 "That's a mouthful."

 "Were this the time of our ancestors, that would be your name."

 "Doesn't mean it's not a mouthful. My name is enough of a mouthful."

 "You're a handful....." Gran shook her head. "Shall we continue?"

~~~~~~~

 These memories, and a million more warped around me, pulling my sight to a hundred happy days, and two hundred sad ones. Days spent laughing in the sun with my brother, then days spent mourning his death.

 Days spent with the man I was supposed to marry, then his attempted killing of me. That memory still stung, and I could never forget his face as he lunged at my throat.

 But in the chaos of these sudden memories, some I wished to forget more than anything else, I forgot Kaiju was watching them with me.