A Matter in Time
1103 Words
My heads pounding, my body feels sore. I sat up, looking around my room wondering how I got here. The last thing I remember, I was visinting the Hall of Devotion where I ran into a hooded figure... but what happened after that? Had my devotion been rejected?
"Your highness, good morning." A voice somes "how are you feeling?"
I look over to see Enoch in the door, his torso lowered in a bow.
" Enoch, what-"
"You collapsed in the garden yesterday" he says " so I carried you back to your chambers. Your outfit was dirty, so I had the maid see to your needs."
"and the ha-"
" lets get these curtians open, shall we?" He asks " this room seems so dreary without sunlight in the mornings"
Sunlight? but its- I noticed the clock and jumped out of the bed, my mind cleared of any thoughts as I quickly change into a pair of shorts, a tank top and flippers and rushed out the door.
" My Lady! Where are you goi-"
" The Garden!"
As I approached the entrance to the garden, a sudden chill fell over me, as if I had walked under a waterfall, and when my hand reached the gate, the chill disappeared replaced with an incredible warmth. I felt something in my chest upon hearing the sound of a slight clicking noise.. but where did it come from? ... I push the feeling down as I enter the garden, my eyes widen... it was beautiful. The space was no longer overgrown, a building made of ancient stones stood before me as if it had always belonged there, and plants florished all around me.. But.. somethings not right..
" Where are the raised beds? the rubble?" I say " and who built that temple?"
Looking at this wonderous scene before me... was like looking at something from a history book... the stone temple was done with building techniques long since lost to us, even mages couldn't have recreated them.. the way the garden was structured, the structures filling the space.. everything was reminescent of a time history had barely any record of.. I had essentially gone back in time..
"Wow"
"Your Highness!"
"this is incredible"
I walk along the rising plants when an series of vines caught my eye. They're alive, but barely.
" Enoch, what are these?"
He sighes, annoyed because I had run off before, but he comes over and kneels beside the display of withering vines, a sudden spark of interest in his eyes.
" The Eternal Rozendraelia" He says " Also known as the Everchanging Rose or the Ever Rose."
" The.. Ever Rose?" I say " I've never heard of it before."
"thats not surprising." He says " The Ever Rose is an ancient magic flower which had reportedly been extinct for many a milennia, no human would know of its existence. Even most mages do not know of it."
" but then.. how-"
" I am not sure." He says " Its recultivation should be impossible, but these vines are undoubtedly alive.. however barely.."
" How can that be possible?"
"It can't." he replies " unless.. but thats not possible."
"what?"
" the only way this could occur would be if this garden were returned to the time period before which it was abandoned" He says " but that would require time magic, which hasn't been seen in centuries. In fact, the last known user was Meridian S-"
He froze, his eyes falling on me. A look of shock anf intrigue written on his face.
" it couldn't be.. could it?"
"what?"
" its definitely a possibility" He whispers " we'd have to run tests to know for sure"
"to know what for sure?"
"but if she does..."
"WILL YOU CLUE ME IN ALREADY?!"
" Lady Astella." He says "as you are aware, magic affinity is passed down through blood."
"yes." I say " if a woman with ice magic marries a man with fire magic, their child could possess either type of magic. right?"
" Yes. but its a bit more complex than that." He says " the type of magic inherited by the child depends on whose genes come out dominant within that child, for example If the fire and the ice mage had a daugher and her overall genetics match closer to her mothers, she would likely have ice magic.. however, there are exceptions to this rule."
"She could end up with fire magic?"
"yes. but theres a third possibility as well." He says " The child could inherit the attribute of another biological family member all together."
"what do you mean?"
He stands up, grabs a stick and starts drawing a diagram in the dirt. what are we? 5?
" lets say the father has fire magic and the mother has ice magic"
"ok"
"you'd think these were the only two options then?"
"obviously."
"but what would happen if, say, the paternal grandmother had Light magic. what would that mean?"
My eyes widen. No way.
" are you saying the child could inherit Light magic?"
" Indeed. Though these cases are extremely rare, it has happened before." He says " Magic still cannot be explained even by those of us whom weild it. Its hard to say what effects it may have on the future generations, this is why most families marry within their own attributes.. Fire marries fire, ice marries ice, and so on."
"ok.. but whats that have to do with my garden?"
He turns to me with a small smile.
" I can't be sure of anything just yet." He says " but you could very well be one of those rare cases."
"how? my father comes from a family of light mages and my mother a family of dark mages" I say " wouldn't my attribute be one of the two?"
" because the last time mage was Meridian Solani" He says " Your maternal Grandmother"
I felt as though the world stopped spinning, his revelation floated around in my mind unable to settle in. I could be a time mage? how is that even possible? What would that mean for me exactly?
" My lady?"
" I need to be alone."
"but.. classes start-"
"please, Enoch." I say " I promise i'll prepare for them first thing tomorrow.. so please-"
"first thing tomorrow?"
"yes. immediately after breakfast."
He froze a moment only to sigh loudly.
"very well. take tonight to process."
"thank you."
With that, I was left alone in the garden with only the vines to keep me company.
- Writer
