Kritana awoke to her mother humming a gentle tune. Her eyes enlarged in shock at the sight of her mother's blood-stained face, but she soon realized that the blood didn't belong to her mother. Kritana's body relaxed while her mother gazed at her with affection.
'I had dreams of the past again.' No matter which world Kritana was in, her past always seemed to haunt her. Whether it was her abusive nanny in her first life, or her abusive foster father in the second, the memories never seemed to go away.
She reminded herself that her fate had changed and peered into her mother's assuring eyes which closely resembled hers. Her mother was still alive, and for now, that was all that mattered.
The baby rapidly moved her eyes around and tried to grow accustomed to her surroundings, but it was unfamiliar and dark. She was only able to realize where she was once, she spotted a black tree. 'The Forbidden forest?' Why were they there? While thinking of the hypothetical answers, she continued staring into her mother's eyes.
They were a beautiful crimson and shone under the moonlight. 'Crimson eyes…The angelan clan?' The baby almost gasped at her sudden discovery. According to myth, the angelan clan was the only remaining clan of angels on earth. They acted as the protectors of the Sprit Tree alongside the fairies and resided in the Forbidden Forest. Their royalty was described as having crimson eyes and were otherworldly beauties.
In her first life, she dismissed the idea of her mother being of angelan blood because it was merely a myth that she had read on a whim, but if the facts added up, her mother was a part of one of the unknown clans. 'That's why my father wanted my mother's blood.' He wanted her pure mana; it was untainted by foreign entities and would create a weapon of unprecedented strength. Kritana was that weapon.
The baby turned to her side and processed the shocking discovery. As if the mother knew what her daughter was thinking, she nodded her head and smiled. The woman might have been covered in blood, but even blood could not cover her beauty. Her long jet-black hair swayed with the wind, and her blood-stained dress only added to her allure.
Kritana drew closer to her mother and snuggled into her blood-stained dress. This action exerted almost all of her energy, causing Kritana to doze off. Her mother stared at her daughter in shock, as the blood seeped into the newborn's clean blanket. She could hardly resist the charm of the sleeping infant and rubbed her head in joy. Soon, both mother and child were covered in monster blood.
As soon as Kritana slid into a deep sleep, the mother's eyes hardened. They would have to wait for the next patrol in order to enter the portal to their home. Her magic was still affected by the chain, so she wasn't able to open it herself. 'They should let us enter,' the mother thought. 'Only those with angelan blood can make it past the barrier.' But that could take hours, days, or weeks. The mother's eyebrows creased in worry while she continued to pat Kritana's head. With a sigh, the mother closed her eyes and minutes later, the sounds of two people snoring could be heard.
***
From the center of the Forbidden Forest, a light that was tainted with a blue hue emitted near the location of the slumbering mother and daughter. A tall man who was composed and dignified walked forth from the light and glanced down at the woman. In an instant, his composure broke into pieces and his face was laced in disbelief.
He hurried over to the woman and warily touched her bloodied shoulder. "Is this a dream?" he said while his voice cracked. He ruffled his jet-black hair and tears dripped down from his crimson eyes.
Suddenly, he felt the woman stir in her sleep and open her eyelids. At the sight of the crying man, her eyes widened in shock. "Brother? Is that you?"
The sweet and familiar voice confirmed the woman's identity and he smiled gently. He swept up his little sister in his broad arms and laughed with joy. He so was blinded by his sister's miraculous return, that he overlooked a certain baby that she held in her arms.
His laughter slowly died down, and he held out his hand. The woman shook her head, pointed towards Kritana, and whispered, "You can carry her instead, she was tired from the trip."
With a grin, he holds Kritana in his arms and curiously asks, "Whose child is this?" He stares wordlessly at her face and watches her lips curl into a grin. She stroked the baby's back and in a low voice said, "She's my daughter."