Chapter 9 – Red Handed
Irvina was cleaning up the dishes with her two girls who still have redden eyes and also sniffling a little once awhile, when she heard a yelled perhaps could be called a scream coming from her bedroom.
She runs towards her bedroom dropping the dish which she still washing thus shattering the half-cleaned dish. There, she sees her son fallen unconscious lying on his back while his right palm still clutching his stomach area.
She first places her hand on her son's wrist for pulses, it's still pulsing but a little too fast for a normal one. She then places the back of her index finger near Arston's nose for breath, he's also breathing however, also too quick and short for her liking.
"quick, call your aunt Laura, it's urgent, hurry!..." ordered Irvina to her eldest daughter who'd just entered the room.
"O.. okay mom" replied Anya.
Anya moves her foot with hastened step. But midway her running to Laura's hut, she saw the person she's looking who's still walking slowly underneath the evening moonlight amidst the panting after the short-hastened sprint.
"Aunt Laura!!! We… we need your help, Arston… he… he fell unconscious." Shouted Anya to the figure a couple 10 dozen meters ahead of her.
Laura who didn't expecting the sudden shouting jumped due to the surprise, she was thinking about something spooky due to the darkness. But nonetheless, the shouted sentence spoken by her friends eldest daughter is no less spooky than what she was thinking.
Without much questioning, Laura went back to the place where she just been a few minutes ago, since she knows that it was really urgent, everything that involves falling unconscious must be pretty bad.
After thirty seconds of running, Laura entered the bedroom, with Anya following a few seconds later while looking more miserable when she called Laura.
Inside of the bedroom, Laura sees the same thing as Irvina earlier. With the difference was the almost two years old boy now lying unconscious on top of the bed with his mom caressing his sweating forehead..
"What happened Irvina?" inquired Laura while checking the young boy's temperature by placing the back of her hand to his forehead. She immediately notices that his forehead's temperature is quite high, the boy's eyes also shut tight as in he is in pain. She then looked at his hand which clutching his stomach area.
"Oh my god!! He casted a spell" yelled Laura in disbelieve.
"what do you mean?" Irvina wanted to know about the wellbeing of her son but stopped by her friend.
"hush, give a moment, I'll explain later" Laura hushed the mother and started chanting her spell.
But this time, it's different from the ones she performed before. The chanting last longer with more than six syllables and involving both of her hands on making the hand gestures. After the five or so seconds chanting, her right-hand glows in the same milky white hue while her left hand glows in whitish gold shine.
She placed her left palm to Arston's stomach area where he is clutching. Some seconds passed and the clutching finally loosened, but nonetheless, the pained expression still plastered all over his face.
Laura followed her treatment right after. Placing her right hand on top her left's, resulting on the relieve of Arston's suffering expression.
"is he alright now?" Irvina carefully questioned her friend whether her son is fine.
"yes, yes, he's going to be fine now, but you might wanna prepare some more food for tonight" Laura assured her friend of her worry.
"Can you now explain what happened to Arston?" Inquired Irvina regarding her little boy just experienced moments ago.
Laura wiped her worried sweats on her forehead and replied,
"I'm not sure either"
"What do yo" Irvina was about to questioned her friend for more details when she got stopped.
"Do you remember the sensation when you first casted your spell?" Laura cut the boy's mother inquiry.
"well… yea…. It felt like my stomach a little warm and something took form do you mean?" Irvina described her memories about what she was feeling at the time back then, when she cut it short and asked.
"Yea… but imagine it taking place on a boy whose age not even 2 years old yet. I'm not sure how he did it, you saw it yourself, he wasn't able to pronounce the chants, and yet, his mana pool organ already took formed" Laura eased her friend's wondering question while checking the still unconscious boy for any other symptoms.
"WHAT? You mean my boy is a two years old mage?" cheered Irvina after the explanation by Laura who's still checking her son's body parts.
"hold your horses their girl, Let me correct you a bit, his not even two years old yet, secondly, not to burst your marry bubble, I'd never heard nor seen a kid this young able to cast a spell, I already baffled when he reexplained my description of the basic healing, ignoring the childish words that he used to do it, he got the general meaning of it right" Laura clarified her excited friend's conclusion.
"Maybe he's different? Umm… Me and Lenfort wanted a son very badly back then, we did it in many ways I'm not sur"
"there're kids here Mrs. hotstuff, i.. i.. I wasn't referring to those, I mean, did he somehow chanced upon a grimoire of some sort?" reminded Laura on her improper teasing and added a question.
"owh, owh… right, well…. what kind of mage that would given their grimoire to a boy?" Irvina stuttered a bit before giving a question of her own.
Laura facepalmed and said "I mean your husband's goods".
"Umm… surely not, all of his merchandises are at his shops in cities" Guessed Irvina.
The pair of sisters just spectated from the corner of the bedroom with a confused face. Their day usually spent on playing with dolls and helping their mom on some house chores such as making meals or cleaning rooms. They then remembered their aunt Laura mentioning to prepare some food and so, they go to the kitchen.
Laura and Irvina chatted for some more about many possibilities that happened to the boy. Then the sisters brought a vegetable stew mixed with some rice porridge. They waited around for an hour but Arston seams not waking up in anytime soon. Therefore, the stew was given to Laura.
"why do I have to finish of the stew?, aren't you girls feeling hungry? You two are still in your growing spurt" Complained Laura yet, she still stuffed her mouth with a spoon full of the stew which she complaining about.
"Silly aunty, if you want to convince people that you don't want the meal, don't stuffed it into your mouth first" Remarked the two girls after a giggle.
"she's just being polite dear; it's just how she does things" added Irvina and joined the giggling.
By the time Arston woke up, it's already noon of the next day. He felt so hungry, and wondering of what happened last evening. He walked out of the bedroom with near limping step.
"Ugh, stupid body, why can't you grow faster?" grumbled Arston in his mind while opening the door.
Once he exited the bedroom he saw his sisters and Laura sitting around the dining table.
"Hey, look at who slept for nearly a day, How are you feeling little sleepy head?" teased the ever-mischievous Amanda.
"Look at who's calling someone little, aren't you also little?" Said Anya to her sister.
"Well.. at least he's still smaller than me, and aren't you also the same sis? Replied Amanda in her defence.
Laura sighed and walk to the limping Arston and pick him up. She then sat him on a highchair,
"are you hungry?"
Laura asked the little boy in front of her to which received a nod from him. After the nod, Laura then fed him a bowl of porridge with some thinly cut meat.
Once the bowl was emptied, Laura asked herself "how did all of those porridge fit inside of his little body?" but kept it to herself.
"what did you do last night that made you unconscious?, your mom and sisters were worried sick, I'm also worried" she actually asked.
"Dammit, what should I say? All I did was picturing those hand gestures inside my head. And whose voice was dead? No way it's Lenfort`s" Arston rummaging his brain for an excuse.
Laura who sees the dazed kid asked "how did you do it?"
"Umm… what do you mean aunt La-a?" Arston worriedly asked back the woman in front of him while his small back starting to sweat.
"you know lying is bad young man, I mean how did you cast the spell?" Laura persisted on her inquiry.
"Sh/t i got caught red handed, I guess there's no way saving it then" sighed Arston in his mind.
"Umm… I tried to imagine the hand gestures you taught me aunt "La-a and suddenly…" Arston nervously answered which followed by the rubbing the spot above his navel.