Isla entered her bond, and the world around her felt stiller than it had been. She opened her eyes and felt light temporarily blind her vision. As her eyes adjusted, she found she was alone. She decided to explore where she was, it looked like a beautiful hill, once she reached the peak, she saw Alexander and someone else at the bottom. She wanted to go there, and suddenly her body appeared on a rock behind them, listening to what was happening.
"Alex, I don't know if I did the right thing." The man said, leaning into Alexander who seemed to be comforting him. "They've decided to take the gift I gave them and create a terrible system. People without magic suffer while those with it prosper and only use it for their personal gain. What can I do?" She peered closer, the man was old, and he had a beautiful face, with wrinkles showing how much he had smiled and cried. She wanted to comfort him but knew it was true. She had seen the world, she knew how commoners were treated and how no one cared for them unless they had magic.
"Claude, you can only hope they will find their way. That there will be good humans who will change the world."
"What if there are none? What will happen then?" Claude coughed with a laugh.
"Then you will have to be reborn and fix the world. Touch the holy waters again and change the world to be better." Alexander replied, humour in his voice that Isla was unfamiliar with. She saw darkness in Claude's eyes, as he stirred up.
"Alex, I don't think I can fix the harm I've caused the world. I just wanted everything to be better, for everyone to be happier. Instead, I'm afraid of what could be. Perhaps, fixing the world is not something a mere human can do." His voice was unstable, tears could be heard in it.
"Claude, you are someone who cares deeply. I didn't choose you and your soul for no reason, however, very few people have the same clarity that you do. Don't demean yourself, you are not a mere human and I am not a mere dragon. We are the first to build a bridge between our worlds, do not underestimate your capabilities." Isla saw them look at each other, though one was a mighty creature and one a human, they were true equals.
"True respect." She whispered.
"That's correct, Isla." A voice behind her thundered. "And that respect is something we will continue to build. For you have to fix the world Claude began, set it to the correct path, and bridge the gap between mortals with and without magic. That is what your heart wants, isn't it?"
A blush spread over Isla's cheeks. She had never stated or heard what she truly wanted to do said to her. It felt childish but it was what she needed to achieve, she couldn't bear the world as it was.
"But, child, although your memory does not hold onto your past, your soul does, even after the baptism in the holy waters, it will weigh on you. However, you should know what weighs on you, Isla Gregory." Her eyebrows ruffled, Gregory, she thought. "Will you consent to seeing?"
She felt petrified, she would see what had happened. Something more than what she knew, she would truly know her own story. Did she want to know? Yes, she thought, I need to know.
She nodded, trembling still, a courageous look on her small face as she closed her eyes. He raised his arm, which was twice as large as her, and his finger, larger than her head, touched her forehead. It began to glow, just as everything tended to do, but when she opened her eyes everything was dark. She turned as a woman screamed behind her and a glowing baby, covered in blood that looked quite gross was pulled from her body. It was her. With the familiar blue eyes but an unfortunate bald head, she stared at her glowing form. "I'm quite ugly." Was all she stated but her eyes turned to the exhausted woman who now held the largest smile on her face as the baby got to sit in her arms. Her eyes came from her mother, she noticed, as did her smile. Her mother had beautiful long, light brown, hair, that was stuck to her skin by sweat, but her radiant smile seemed to create more beauty than anything Isla had seen.
"My beautiful baby, you've saved our family. My Isla." She whispered as a hand touched her shoulder. Isla finally noticed him, the man with black hair and amber eyes, tears forming in his eyes. "Isn't she gorgeous?" Her mother cried as he nodded and kissed her head.
"Our Isla, the saviour of our family." He yelled with joy, as held his wife and daughter. "The boys should meet her now!" The doors seemed to burst after he said that, and three young boys entered the room and stared at their sister who continued to glow.
"Do all babies glow like that, Ma?" The tallest one asked, he was missing a tooth, and like Isla had black hair, but his eyes were amber like his father's.
"No, Bobby, this one is special. She has magic." His mother answered, tears in her eyes.
The space seemed to move, the family stood in front of a house, and they began to unpack their belongings, all of which fit into a small suitcase, into this house. A bespectacled man in a uniform greeted them at the door. "Hello Gregories, you will be allotted 200 gold every month from now on as you have been blessed by a magical child. Here are the details of your bank account and here is a card for you to spend with. Good day." He grinned at this family that was going to live better than they ever had. 200 gold was more than they had seen their entire lives, and now they would get to spend it every month.
"Darling, we have to save most of it. But we absolutely also have to spend it for our new home and boys!" She squealed in delight as her husband spun her around. She watched as time seemed to quickly pass and the house became a home. However, she watched a baby seem to sit in a cradle and watch it happen. Only her mother seemed to tend to her, sing to her, and care for her, everyone else watched her wearily. When she cried the house would shake, or things would shatter. Darkness would leek from her station when she needed attention and pull her family to her. When she was happy everything began glowing with light and things seemed to come to life when she played.
However, her mother held her with love and laughed at her magic. Isla teared up, even though Louisa loved all three children, it felt different to what she saw. Her mother's love was unending and unconditional, it was as if she was completely held. "Will I ever be loved like that again?" She wondered aloud.
At 6 months old, Isla began to walk and say her first words, which was early but things were different for magical children. She wanted food and stomped around the house, looking for her mother who was sleeping in a room on a different floor. When she couldn't find her mother she began to cry, and the house shook, but none of her brothers or father came to her, and as it shook things began to rise with her ability. Isla ran to her sleeping mother's room, as the baby version of her continued to wail, and she saw the the chandelier above her mother's bed separate and shatter in the air before falling into her mother's body. She screamed as her mother did too, and the family rushed up to see their mother screaming until she wasn't. Her father collapsed. The house continued shaking until baby Isla passed out.
The next scene was her father, standing in front of the man from earlier, handing his daughter to him. He signed a paper that relinquished every right he had to be her father and she was no longer Isla Gregory, she was just Isla until she was granted the surname Ronin. "There is no room in our home for her." Was all he said.
"Well, you will continue to have your gold every month and your home, so the only one losing is the child, Mr. Gregory." The old man shook his head and left the now well-dressed man and his sons, and prayed that the child would be happy. She saw Alma take her in, and hold her close before handing the baby to Louisa.
"Isla, this was your story. But it does not define you, nor was it your fault. Your mother, Delilah, loved you with her entire heart and she will love you forever." Alexander finally stated as he watched the girl collapse to the ground.
"Yes, I know Alexander. I know." She sobbed as he curled his body around her and let her find comfort in his warm scales.
"Child, life will never be easy, but you have a long way to go still. Don't cry any more after today, because your kindness will speak for itself." He reminded her, but he let her cry in his arms for a long time.