An unlucky system?
Mallory was confused, after hearing a robotic voice in her head. She thought it was a dream that people hear before they die, but to her surprise, she couldn't feel any pain in her body after hearing that voice.
The stab wound on her stomach that was hurting like hell was... Gone!
'Did the voice heal me? What was it?'
She wondered, still too lazy to open her eyes. But, she could hear everything in her surroundings. The birds chirping, the sound of rustling leaves and the soothing wind that she felt on her body. Everything felt so, unreal.
Yes, unreal. Because such things don't exist in the alley.
"I told you for the last time! It's a bad idea to bring a human child with us. Let's just leave it here" a harsh voice suddenly pierced the air.
'Huh? How mean! Who owns that voice? How could someone be so heartless towards a child?'
"Now Zogg, she's just an innocent-looking child. Besides, if she stays there any longer, she'll die" A softer voice countered.
"I agree with Zogg, let's take the child back to the dungeon. She's still a human, no matter what," another angry voice, just like Zoggs', was heard.
Mallory was still confused, wondering who these people were. Did they gather where she almost died or... She's dead and probably in the afterlife?
"Let's take her to Aetherius and let him decide"
"Sure! If he says we should kill the baby, let me be the first to eat her"
Those awful words sent shivers down Mallory's spine. She suddenly felt a hand rubbing her cheek.
"She's such a cute child. I'm sure Aetherius would agree for us to keep her, right Lyra?"
"I'm a demon, we demons eat children for breakfast. So, I have no say in this, Eira. If she causes problems, I'll have to share her with the ugly green creature," She said.
"Ugly? I'm not ugly! I'm just born green" Fizzle yelled at Lyra.
"Tell that to your mother. Oops, she dead" Lyra spoke with an indifferent face as Fizzle gritted his teeth angrily.
Mallory heard everything they said. Demons? Eat children?
She immediately snapped her eyes open, and she found herself in the arms of a beautiful woman with long, flowing golden hair. The woman looked at Mallory with her hand still stuck on the chubby cheek.
"Look, the baby is awake!" She spoke in her soothing calm voice.
'Baby? Me? Am I a baby?'
"Kyaa!"
'Was that from me? Kyaa? No way! Where are those thieves that stole from me? Where are the dogs and my...coin? They are gone!'
"Look, she's so cute!" The voice spoke again.
Mallory immediately realised she was the baby they were talking about. She has been reincarnated into the body of a child, and she's in... She has no idea where she was, no matter how much she looked around.
She tilted her head and found more people by the side. There was one with horns. She didn't need anyone to tell her it was the demon. Her horn was long and red, and so was the tight dress she was wearing. She looked tall with long beautiful legs as she was seated on a tree branch.
"Huh? The child has crimson eyes"
She moved her heavy head again and saw the two short ones. One was green and ugly, just like she heard before while the other was blue, with blue hair.
"Looking at the baby makes me want to eat her"
"No, Zogg. I won't let you eat her. We are going to Aetherius," Eira, the one with golden hair and pointed ears, spoke, still staring at the child. Mallory raised her arm to touch her ear and paused, seeing her small hands.
It was short and chubby, unable to reach her ear.
"What a sweet child. Let's go, everyone"
"Taking a child with us, what is she thinking?"
"I just want to eat her!"
"Meet you all there. I have no business with the child. Make sure to keep my share if Aetherius choose to kill her, ugly green!" Lyra's black wings popped out from her back as she prepared to fly. She stared one more time at Mallory before flying away.
'Wow, was that a real demon'
"Lyra must be in a bad mood. Let's move. It's getting late," Eira spoke, and the others walked behind her. It was just a five-minute walk before they got to the village. It was so beautiful and colourful. It was different from where she came from, the Lurris kingdom. Who would have imagined that different creatures would come together and live in harmony?
"Hey little one, this is your home now. As long as Aetherius agrees to you stay here with us" Eira whispered to her.
"Go to him, Eira. We'll wait for you here" the others said. Eira wasted no time in going to the biggest house amongst the other houses.
Eira's hand started to tremble in fear as she knocked on the door. The door creaked open and Mallory started to get scared also. She has no idea who this Aetherius is but he seemed like the boss around here.
Eira's grip around the child tightened as she took a step into the house. It was dark and gloomy. The stench coming from the house was also bad. It was something Mallory had smelt before.
Blood!
"You brought a human into our territory, Eira! Are you trying to bend the law?"
"Please, Aetherius. I couldn't leave her in the dungeon. She's little and innocent"
"Innocent? She's a human! All humans are the same! Treacherous! Cunning! Murderers!" He growled, and the wind from nowhere almost threw Mallory out of Eira's hand.
"Toss her to the goblins! No human is allowed into our territory, and she's not an exemption" he spoke, turning around to leave.
'Toss me to the green uglies? No way! I can't die again! I can't get eaten by them! I have to live! What do I do?'
"Please! Aetherius! Let her stay with us. I'll be in charge of her. I promise if she causes any problems at all, I'll eliminate her myself," She said.
He stopped and turned back around. He slowly walked out of the darkness, revealing himself.
He's a dragon! Mallory's eyes widened as she saw him. He's a real dragon! He slowly shape-shifted back into his human form. From a huge dragon, he became a tall handsome man with a white piece of cloth wrapped around his eyes. He was blind, but he was able to sense and see everything that was happening around him.
"How do I know you'll keep your promise?" He asked.
"I swear on my elf crown," She said.
He became silent as he lowered his head to stare at Mallory.
"Celina," he said.
"Huh?" Eira furrowed her eyebrows.
"That's her name from now. Celina Sawyer!" He said. He turned and walked away, back into the darkness.
"Thank you, Aetherius!" She was happy as she clutched the baby to herself. "Welcome to the family, Celina. The Lord has given you a beautiful name," she added and rushed out of the house. Again, the door slammed closed. Zogg and Fizzle were still waiting for Eira.
"Look, here she comes!" The troll, Zogg, rubbed his tiny blue hands.
"I can't wait to eat that scrawny human!" The goblin, Fizzle, already took out his dagger ready to slice the little one apart.
"Aetherius agreed! We are going to keep her!" She brought the good news, but to them, it was bad news. They didn't want to keep her, they wanted to eat her.
"Her name is Celina Sawyer! That's the name given to her by the lord. From now on, she's family" Eira said and walked away. Fizzle hid his dagger, with a sad look on his face.
"I know you want to eat the human, but we can't disobey the lord now, can we?" Zogg shook his head. Fizzle grumbled.
"That demoness would be sad if she heard such news"
"Ah! That's true!"
.
.
Mallory, no, Celina, was accepted into the village. Eira carried her carefully to her tree house, where the other elves were present. They were wondering why their queen would bring a human back to their tree house.
Eira ignored their glares and flew to her chambers. She carefully placed Celina on the bed made of leaves and looked around for anything that made a rattling sound.
The curtains opened and someone entered. It was a little elf who was about fifty years old, but he looked like he was twelve years old. He had long, pointed ears, just like Eira.
"Your majesty, why did you bring home a human? Everyone is talking about it"
"Not now, Clyde. And she's a girl, not an 'it'. She also has a name that's given to her by the lord"
"The Lord gave her a name?" Clyde walked away from the Eira who was searching for a rattling toy.
He climbed the leaves bed and poked his hand into her cheek. His fingernails were sharp, causing her a bit of pain. She frowned and pouted her lips.
'Who the hell is this boy? How dare he touch me?'
"Her eyes are crimson and she looks so small"
"She's a baby, of course. She's supposed to be small, Clyde", Eira responded, and her face beamed as she found the rattling toy. "Finally!"
She headed to the bed and wrapped Celina's tiny fingers around the toy.
"That should be good enough for her. Though, it's a little big" Eira complained.
"She's so small that she can't hold it," Clyde added.
'Small? I'll teach you a lesson! You brat!'
Celina waved the toy, hoping to hit Clyde's head with it. But just like Eira said, it was too big. It slipped off her hand and fell on her face.
"Celina!" Eira called her name, with worry in her voice. Instead of her crying since she got hit by the heavy toy, she was silent as she stared into the thin air.
But, she wasn't looking at the air. She was looking at the blue box that appeared in front of her.
{Number of unlucky points: Max (+1)}
'That voice again and what is this blue box?'
"She's not crying. I think she's a weird baby, your majesty" Clyde spoke.
'Let's think about it later and just cry!'
Celina clenched her tiny fist and burst into fake tears.