Chapter 16

Eventually, we both reached a clearing. The silence between us remained

'Awkard...' I thought with a slight smile, and decided it might be best that we both get our bearings first, 'afterall she must be confused and right now, my emotions aren't in the best place either'. I finally let go of her wrist, walked a few paces and sat down, and started creating miniature shapes out of coiled lightning and crystallized water. Freya seemed to take an interest as she was intently staring at the figures dancing in the air. I decided to try my luck and initiate a conversation upon noticing this.

"Sorry, I can't really do much more than this, my magic awakened recently" I said with an apologetic smile, which seemed to snap Freya out of her stupor.

"How old are you?" she asked in reply.

"4" I continued.

"No seriously how old are you"

"4" I repeated with a slight smile on my face. Which left her shocked. She looked like she wanted to ask again, but could tell I wasn't lying.

"I'm sorry, you got into trouble because I made it such a big deal, there were many other ways to settle that" I said after a slight pause, bowing my head and dissolving the magic formations. Her jaw dropped slightly before bowing her own head, even lower than mine.

"Why are you apologising, you're the one who got made fun of. It's my fault, I'm sorry" she replied in a confused and almost repenting tone which I chuckled at slightly.

"What?" she asked, her face going slightly red.

"You're acting so differently to the stuck up noble you were when we first met." after saying that, I started laughing even harder, seeing her flushed and almost pouting face, comparing it to the one that looked at me with arrogance.

"Well how can I not act different, you're the one who got me out of there after all. And besides, you're a year younger than me and you've already awakened your magic" she replied, mumbling the last half. Despite that I still heard it.

"Did you realise what you meant when you said all that to me?" I asked, knowing that the answer would most likely be a no.

"A little bit, I just know that the others really hate humans and thought I should too".

'I knew it' I thought.

"And what about my eyes?" I asked tentatively.

"What about them?" she asked in a confused tone as if I had just started talking about trigonometry.

"Didn't you call me a freak because of my eyes?" I asked again, to which she tilted her head in confusion.

"Nevermind" I said with a very slight smile, it made me happy knowing that my eyes weren't the problem.

"So, what do you think of humans so far?" I asked in a playful tone.

"You seem nice, and your mother seems scary, but I think my mine would be as well." she replied whole scratching the back of her head. After that, I explained to her the concept of racism, or tried to anyway, and how it was upsetting to be told that you are less just because of how you look. I later showed her more of my magic control, stretching myself as far as possible, even creating a body of a bear out of ice, that was coiled with lightning. It left me panting after as I held my breath due to my concentration, but the look in her eyes were worth it.

"What was it you were doing earlier?" she asked in a much politer manner.

"In all honesty, I'm not entirely sure, it just happened" I replied

"Is it true that elves can sense magic and the surroundings before they've awakened?" I asked this time, as I was genuinely curious what it would be like to have that advantage.

"Yes, we can, which is why I was so curious. You were doing something that only elves who are hundreds of years old can do. I don't know what it is, but I've felt it a few times when I've come to see them" she replied, almost sheepishly getting to the latter half of her reply.

'What the fuck? I'm not an elf though...' I pondered.

"Why don't we see if I can do it again?" I said, already moving to the centre of the clearing. I sat down in my lotus position and once again, I let everything melt away. I forgot who I was, I forgot where I was, and i forgot who I was with, as I looked through eyes that weren't mine. Nor eyes at all. I sensed everything and saw everything, but unlike last time, I looked at myself. I continued and found what may be the cause.

Inside my mana pool, were two seed shaped objects, both at opposite ends of the space. They thrummed and pulse with mana, that felt like my own but with more aggression, and a faster tempo. I sat there looking at those objects, trying yet failing to look closer. So I left my body alone and looked through everything else. The feeling of seeing and sensing everything was like a euphoric information overload. I couldn't comprehend everything. However I continued looking through it all, each blade of grass, each droplet of rain. I saw it all with a clarity that I could never get with my own eyes. That was until Freya started shaking my shoulders.

"Eliza, it's been an hour, are you okay?" she asked with slight worry in her voice.

"I'm alright, we should probably head back, by any chance, do you remember the way?" I asked hopefully.