Chapter 5 - Explanation

A few years pass and Eira's brown hair now grew to her waist. She was now able to walk, run, and even sprint.

"Eira! Can you cook breakfast?" Soka called from the backyard, as she hung laundry.

Eira replied with a yes, and opened the door into the kitchen. She pulled out a few eggs from a cabinet and a small metal pan. Cooking, was a lot harder in this world since they didn't have a gas stove.

So Eira would have to manually start a fire, and then place it in a circular area in the counter. This world had the right idea, just incomplete.

After the fire was lit, she then put the pan on top and cracked a few eggs. She flipped them after a few minutes and then cut a few slices of bread from the loaf.

Putting them on the stove, she toasted them lightly and then plated the entire meal. Well, they didn't have much but this was normal for Eira now.

She craved bacon or sausage, but you can't really find that in the market. Soka walked in a few moments after, sitting down at the table.

"Hey, we need to talk." Soka frowned.

"Can this possibly wait till after we eat?" Eira responded, she didn't like the tone her mother gave her. The topic was waiting for her stomach to churn.

Soka complied and they ate the small breakfast in front of them, the banter was light and Eira genuinely enjoyed it. Although she had a mental age of 30 now, it was nice to have Soka as her mother.

Growing up, she wasn't lacking in love. Whenever Eira was curious about something, Soka answered her questions. Whenever Eira felt sad, Soka was there to embrace her. In a perfect world, it would have been nice to have her father there too.

But he wasn't.

Eira knew he wasn't home because of his position, but she convinced herself that he just didn't want to come home. Whenever Eira would ask about him, Soka only gave vague answers.

Her only response or warning, was that he'll show up on ᴛʜᴀᴛ day. Eira didn't even know what day keeps being mentioned, but she didn't like the suspicion.

"Okay, so you know how I have the power to manipulate water?" Soka began.

Eira nodded her head.

From then, Soka began to explain the basics of this world, because she finally felt that Eira was old enough to learn about it.

Although Eira has asked before, she was answered- but very vaguely. So this talk was the final puzzle to all her questions. Or so she thought.

"There's 4 forms of generalized magic. Wind, Water, Fire and Earth. You noticed how many people in town had accents of colors right?" Soka began to explain.

Within each house, there's generally one element. Two if the parents aren't of the same element. However, you'd think that most kids get to have both of their parents magic, but unluckily they only inherit one.

"The depths of magic is extremely deep. It completely depends on your creativity and capability. Even if your brain could think of something cool, could your body pull it off?" By this part, Eira listened as if her hopes shattered.

'𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺.' She thought. Eira kind of wished the divine being gave her a small cheat that could let her live a bountiful life.

After all, that's how most of these stories go, right?

"Anyway, you are a child of two different elements. I am water, and your father is fire." She hesitated, as if a lump got stuck in the back of her throat.

"Aren't those-"

"Yes, we are polar opposites." Soka interrupted Eira's remark. She sighed and continued her explanation.

Every 5 years, an elderly magician and a couple of foot soldiers visit to test the elements. Each child is gifted one at birth, and their power isn't awaken until they touch the glass globe that the elder brings.

From then on, the children's body undergoes either a minor or major change to match the element bestowed upon them.

"I used to have silver hair, but once I awakened I woke up with this color." Soka lifted a strand of her aquatic blue locks.

Eira then couldn't wait, "When do they come back?" She stood up from her chair and ran behind her mother, massaging her shoulders.

Soka chuckled but then her eyes dimmed, "They come back in one month. On the last week of your birth month.".

Eira was so excited, she didn't notice the grim smile from her mother. All that was going through her mind was the awakening of magic. The mysterious catalog of, ' 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦? ' and it excited her.

"Your father.. well, he'll be one of the soldiers." Soka continued and Eira stopped cold.

"Why?" Eira stopped massaging Soka's shoulders.

"He's one of the spectators of this generation's elements. More specifically, he's there to.. eliminate abnormalities." Soka clenched her fist.

"I mean it's fine! Mom, I'm just excited. I'll get tested and come right home." Eira went to go sit down again.

She couldn't wait until next month. She was looking forward to seeing if she got water or fire.