Linette woke up, she was surrounded by darkness. There was no sound, she couldn't feel anything, all of her senses were not responding. Two thoughts ran through her mind.
'Am I dead?' , and 'Did my family figure out I was murdered?' Linette simply had no way of knowing what had happened after Ebony framed her suicide. Linette was somehow stuck in some abyss without any of her senses, left alone with only her thoughts. Even mana couldn't be felt in this place. It was as if the space wasn't part of reality. That however was a weird thought.
Anxiety and fear came with all the unknowing. Linette couldn't tell how long she'd been in the abyss. It seemed as if she had spent weeks in the blackness, but it was hard to say for sure. With a large amount of time on her hands Linette contemplated what happened to her. Linette felt that only the purest form of her existed at this moment, her soul.. But that didn't really make sense to her.
Souls were a vague concept that was mostly backed by the lower realms religions. They believed souls were intangible things and they existed in non-existence when not in the body. They were powered by nothing, and affected by nothing. The upper realm naturally didn't believe in souls the same way the lower realms does. Most accurately they believed in mana. One's soul was mana. When someone died their characteristics were largely removed from the mana and the mana was transferred to a new body. That being said some things never truly leave mana. They believed the source of the world and the universe was mana, it was all and without it there was no existence. Yet, here she couldn't feel any mana, was it that it wasn't present or she simply couldn't sense it? Was it that only in a body you could sense mana? If there was no mana that would contradict nearly everything she was taught. It was thought provoking. Linette had plenty of time to dwell over the matter, but soon doubting her own existence became not so fun.
Soon the weeks turned into months Linette could feel the passage of time, but she couldn't help thinking she be stuck in here forever. The worst part was that Linette couldn't sleep, she physically didn't need sleep. There was no body to rest.
The time grew longer and longer years passed, Linette had recurrent thoughts about how she would get revenge on Ebony, what she would how she would do it. Perhaps her strong thoughts of revenge kept her sane. At the same time her personality twisted a bit, how could it not? Anyone who'd spend years without any sort of contact and in total sensory depravation would change.
Despite spending such a long time in isolation, her experience could be summed up shortly. It was hell.
Linette had taken up a habit recently, she'd try to recall her memories and she'd replay them in her head. Right now she was thinking about a bright summery day which she had spent outside training by herself. Linette couldn't control her fire well at this point in her life and was in danger of burning the things in her room. The building itself was fireproof. It was the Blaze Sect after all. She could almost see the light, the brightness of the outdoors. At that moment Linette felt as if she really could see the light. It burned her eyes. She cried outloud. Her voice! Linette could feel her mouth moving, she heard a loud screech. A warm and wet cloth gently caressed her skin. She didn't understand what was happening. As her eyes adjusted Linette realized she was inside some building.
"Madam, congradulations it's a girl." As Linette's eyes focused she could see a fat chin directly above her. It was a women with brown hair and no remarkable features. Linette observed the room more. It was make out of wood. The ceiling had exposed wooden beams and the wall were covered in bleached wood. This style was popular in the top echelon of the Middle Realm.
"She's so beautiful." A soft voice came from a women who was also hovering above her now. Linette tried to call out, but all she heard was a baby's cry. The realization hit her, she'd reincarnated into a baby. The women who now held Linette was beautiful, but her thoughts weren't on that matter. If Linette had taken the time to exam the women she would've seen her mother had honey colored hair and soft green eyes. Much like Elizabeth her beauty lied in the aura she presented, but her aura was different. Kind, motherly, and accepting was the aura the beautiful women held.
'How'd this happen? Ebony said reincarnation with your old memories never happens.. perhaps she was lying?' Linette waved her hands in front of her face in disbelief. They were stiff and hard to move. She couldn't turn her head either. It was like she was paralyzed. Scared she tried to move her body. 'It hurt!' Despite that fact she continued to move.
To the mother watching Linette she was concerned, 'Is my baby all right?' The strange movement was unnatural for a newborn, after all Linette had literally just come out of the womb.
"There there, mother is here. Just relax." Linette's new mother looked down kindly. She was trying to sooth her new daughter.
"Be still! You're going to seriously hurt yourself! You're so tiny that it's a miracle you even made it! Just be still." The mother lightly scolded her daughter. This seemed to get through to Linette as she lied flat again. The idea that a newborn could understand speech was ridiculous. No one actually believed she understood her mother, then again no one was really thinking about it very deeply.
"Ah, it worked. Charlotte you're going to be a great mother!" The mid wife commented with enthusiasm.
"I will do my best." Linette saw her weakly salute the midwife. Charlotte stared lovingly at her child while she poked at Linette's fingers and whispered sweet words of love. A man soon came to join the pair and also poked at Linette. The man, whom Linette soon found out was her father, was a large man. He was tall and had wide shoulders. His brown hair and eyes were plain but fitting. Honest, and strong was the impression he gave off. Her father cradled her head. After staring at her for a while the man spoke
"Charlette, I think the name Linette would fit for such a sweet child." While using her tiny hands to grab the mans fingers Linette cooed in approval. "Hahaha." He laughed heartily. "Look she likes It!" The beefy man commented
"Linette." Charlette called. Once again using her tiny fingers Linette grabbed towards Charlette's fingers. "She really is too cute. Linette it will be!" The mother squealed. It was a charming family scene. Mother and father so deeply in love and awed by the new existence that they brought into the world. They spent what seemed like an hour together. At that point Linette had been passed to her father's arms, who despite his burly appearance was very gentle.
"Can we come in?" Three boys crowded by the door. It was the middlest one who spoke. The oldest looked about 12, the youngest 6.
"Just be quiet. If you get too rowdy I'll kick you out." The father strictly said. The three boys respectfully walked in. They stood next to their father staring at the tiny baby.
"What's it's name?" The youngest asked shyly.
"Her name is Linette." The father softly replied.
"Really we have a younger sister!" The middle one said excited. "I've always wanted a younger sister because all I have are these two idiots." His brothers shortly protested. In the end they settled down because of their father's evil glare.
"Can I hold her?" The youngest, Dane, asked.
"Of course not, she's only been born and you think I'd allow an imbecile like you to hold her. Only Ty can hold her, he's the most responcible."
"That's not far! He's not that much older than me." Dane yelled in protest.
"Dane he's twice your age." Acel, the middle brother, reminded his younger brother.
"So!" Dane crossed his armed defiantly looking at his father.
"Can you beat him in a match? Is your sword art better than his? Can you slice through rock yet? Huh?" The father asked as the youngest put on a defeated expression and the middle child just sighed. It was clear from this exchange that the middle child, Acel, was the smartest. The oldest, Ty, was the strongest. The middle child Dane was just a fool.
"It's still not fair, what does it matter if he's stronger than me!" Not willing to give up Dane once again protested.
"It means he can stop you from taking the baby. One kick and you'd be on the floor for a month." The slightly irresponsible father replied back.
"Can I kick him?" The elder brother Ty asked in seeming anticipation. It was clear that he was half joking, but only half. The twelve year old was annoyed by Dane's antics.
"If you kick him I'll break your legs. As father it's my duty to ensure that my children are without conflict. You may be stronger than him, but I'm stronger than you." The father teased. He showed off his muscles. Dane hit his father's bulging muscles with an intentionally light strength.
"One day I'm gonna be strong enough to defeat you and you won't be able to stop me from holding Linette." Dane bragged.
"When that day comes sure you'll be an old man and Linette will be an old women. At that point in your life It'll be pointless!" The father told his son. At this point the not so intelligent 6 year old had his mouth gapping like a fish. He hadn't considered that possibility. Mad at his father he simply turned his back around and refused to look at his father.
"Look at him throwing a temper tantrum." Acel commented, trying to provoke his brother.
"Shut up you won't be able to hold her either." Dane maliciously shot back.
"Well father said it himself once I'm able to cut through rock I'll be able to hold her. As it turns out I think I'm really close to a breakthrough so I should be able to hold her next week. You probably won't get to hold her till she's 3 years old." Acel purposefully teased. Poking and prodding Dane was one of Acel's favorite pass times. He was frequently training with his father and brothers. Such easy and convenient entertainment how could he pass it up?
"SHUT UP!" Dane was really mad this time.
"If you guys don't stop fighting I'm going to kick both of you out. Acel don't think I don't understand what you're doing." The father warned. Linette had been observing this family scene and it was very warm.
"Me? I'm just stating the obvious." Acel claimed. After putting his hands up in defeat he wormed his way next to the baby.
"Acel."The father growled. Taking the hint he shut his mouth and carefully observed. Charlette had handed baby Linette off to the silent eldest Ty who earnestly held her. Ty didn't say much, but Linette effectively felt her heart warm.
The close family moment going on reminded Linette of her early childhood. She had been so caring and considerate towards the young Ebony. However Ebony had betrayed Linette's trust when Linette was only 12. The 6 year old Ebony had effectively crushed her confidence, and convinced many people in the sect that Linette was dishonest. It was that which had destroyed her opportunity of being Sect head. Linette had been so cruelly framed and had nothing she could say about it, lest her reputation get worse. None the less her life had started over and such a reputation hadn't followed her.
Such charming family scenes were common, but for the most part Linette was left in the nursery where she was feed by her mother and observed by a nanny they had temporarily hired. Linette soon understood the dynamic of the family. Charlette ran most of the affairs at home, she was very intelligent. The servants, the food, the family businesses, and of course the social calls. As far as the last category it was mostly people visiting Charlette to see the new baby and drop off a gift. It was obvious the family held massive prestige. Although that seemed to come solely from Charlette's family.
In any case for the most part Linette was super bored. Her father and brothers trained all day and were only seen at meals which Linette often missed because of the strange sleepiness that frequently took a hold of her. All in all it was peaceful and that was driving Linette crazy because she couldn't do anything. She was a freaking infant. Linette could only try not to drool too much.