Side Story: Visiting the Princess by Aria, The Goddess of Creation – part 1
1631 Words
One morning, while gathering their travelling gear for their next trip, ten-year-old Seya and his mother were checking her notes, making sure they didn’t forget anything and scheduling their visits along the way to the Capital.
“Well, we haven’t gone to the Capital for some months now. We need to go to the Healing House there but what do you say Seya, should we go see how the Princess is doing while we are in the Capital?”
“Yes, mother. I want to see her!”
“Okay, it’s decided then. I will send a message to the Palace, asking for that, as soon as we enter the Capital.”
…
When Seya arrived at the Rohan Palace with his mother, he couldn’t help feeling nostalgic. From the outside, the Castle looked like a fairy tale Castle. On the inside, it was as majestic as a Castle should be, with fine tapestries on the walls depicting former Kings and Queens, huge columns with an ancient Roman look in the Throne Room, a throne made of solid rock with pillows where the King sat, waiting for them.
As soon as they entered, the King got up from his throne and came to greet the High Healer Anna Hinamoto, holding her hands. Such form of greeting was not seen very often. The King didn’t do that, not even to the Nobles that were frequent visitors in the Castle.
“Anna Hinamoto, I am so glad that you came to visit. And you also brought the young Seya.”
“Yes, my King. This little one is my company lately. We came to visit the Princess and see how she was doing.”
“Splendid idea! In fact, I was thinking of calling for you, my little daughter is always asking for Seya.”
Seya was surprised by hearing that. “Oh, why is that, my King?”
“Better if you ask her yourself! Come, let’s go see her!”
When Seya entered the Princess’s room following the King, he saw the little Princess, concentrated on brushing the hair of one of her dolls. Very carefully, very diligently, like if the doll was actually alive.
“Heiji, the Great Healer and her son Seya are here to visit you. They wanted to see how you were doing.”
Princess Heiji Rohan used her six-year-old agility to jump from the bed and rush to hug Seya. “Big brother!”
Seya was a little bent because he was taller than the Princess and he was also hugging her. He looked at the King, wondering why that kind of treatment from the heir to the throne. “Say what?”
King Rohan smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “That’s what she started calling you, every time she talks about you.”
“I see… How are you, Princess Heiji?”
The Princess stepped back and shook her little finger in front of Seya’s face. “Wrong! That’s just wrong! Big brother can’t call me that! Can’t big brother just call me Little Sister?”
“That wouldn’t be appropriate, my Princess”
“I don’t care! Can’t you call me like that?”
Seya looked at King Rohan, a little worried. “... My King”
“Ahahahah! It’s alright Seya, after saving my daughter’s life, you can call her how you see fit!”
“Okay... my cute Little Sister”
“Hurray! I am the cute little sister of big brother Seya! Can big brother Seya stay a little to play with me, father?”
“I don’t see why not. What do you say Seya? I have some things to talk with your mother, while you two play here.”
“Of course. It will be an honour.”
The King and his mother left, and Seya noticed the Princess looking at him with a frown. “Big brother talks weird! So polite! Look here, I can use a lot of Magic!”
“Really? Show me, then.”
The Princess stood very straight, and while opening her hand with a very serious expression of concentration, she began to chant the Magic that one of her tutors taught her. “Oh, Fire from the Goddess, hear my call and gather on my hands! FireBall!”
Puff!
On the top of her hand, formed a small orange ball of Fire. It stayed there, trembling like it was hard for the Princess to control it, and with a vanishing sound, it dispersed itself.
Seya nodded his head with a smile. “That was pretty. A little weak but pretty.”
Princess Heiji looked a little sad. “I thought it was good. You can do it better? Can you show me?”
Seya began to gather Magic on top of the hand of the Princess and from a small orange point began to appear a big orange and red flame that seemed to dance along with the Princess’s breathing. “||... Flow on my hand... form a ball...|| ... “Here it is. Pretty, right?”
“Oh... so pretty... and so big! But you didn’t chant!”
“I don’t need to.”
“But how? Everyone tells me that I need to do a correct chant to make Magic. It was very hard for me to learn this Magic!”
Seya winked one eye. “Do you want to learn my secret?”
“Yes, please! Tell me, big brother!”
“You need to practice Magic Control. You just need to practice a little every day, and slowly, your Magic will increase and one day, you will be able to do Magics without a chant. And stronger ones, also.”
Princess Heiji was puzzled. “Magic...Control? I never heard ... What is that?”
“Let me show you... gather some Magic on your hand. Don’t chant, don’t think about creating anything, okay?”
Following Seya indications, the Princess started to gather Magic on her hand. Just a small amount and a faint red brightness started to surround her hand. “Okay…like this?”
“Yes, just like that… maintain the Magic just like that… steady…”
“It’s hard… Oh, it disappeared!”
“Again. Gather Magic… concentrate… just maintain there, as it is… don’t talk, don’t think about anything… like that… steady… perfect! Let it disperse now.”
“I did it! Now can I do it like you?”
“No, not yet. You need to practice this, every day. Don’t let the Magic get too big or it will explode, and you will hurt yourself. Just that small amount of Magic and maintain it. That’s Magic Control.”
The Princess tried again, and again until finally, she was able to maintain a continuous and steady brightness of Magic on her small hand.
The concentration that she put on that small amount was so high, that she was afraid of talking and losing the control of that beautiful brightness. “… Like this… steady… there… Oops, almost lost… there… this is hard… how much time… I do… like this?”
“For as long as you can. If you do this every day, one day you will be able to maintain that Magic in your hand for hours and hours. And then, you can increase the Magic gathered a little.”
Princess Heiji opened her eyes wide and her Magic dispersed because she lost focus. She didn’t even notice because she just heard something very interesting. “And when I gather much Magic, big brother will teach me powerful Magics?”
“If you continue training and improving, you will become the strongest Fire Princess in the World!”
“Fire Princess? Really? Thank you, big brother! I will train this Control, every day!”
“Make sure to never train this alone, okay? If you can’t control your Magic, it will explode. It’s better if someone is near, to help you if you get hurt. If you notice that it’s going to explode, try to disperse it or concentrate on making that Fire Ball that you showed me. But don’t teach this to anyone, okay? You will become stronger than the Royal Mages, and you will be able to scare them later.”
“Okay, I will practice lots and lots! Big brother will be proud of me! Now, again… slowly… there…”
“Very good, continue like that…”
…
Some months later, Seya went with his mother to the Capital and he rushed to meet his beloved Princess again.
When he entered her room, he saw the Princess sitting on the floor, practising Magic Control. “Hello, Little Sister. I came to visit you again. How have you been?”
“Big brother! Look at this!... there... like this... I can maintain this for one hour now... and... “Fire Ball!” See?”
“Oh, your Fire Ball Magic, and already without a chant! You’re amazing!”
Princess Heiji looked at Seya with a glow in her eyes. “Big brother is proud?”
“Of course, I am! You did well, my cute Little Princess! I can see that you did a lot of training!”
“Of course! Every day, three times a day, until I could keep my Magic in my hand for one hour! And when I was almost losing the Control of my Magic, I did what you told me, concentrate really hard to make the Fire Ball! At first, I hurt myself a couple of times. But then, I learned how to do it!”
“Amazing! All by yourself, in so little time! Okay, let’s increase the amount of your Magic, okay? Begin... steady... more... a little more... a little... there... like that.”
- Writer
