"Protect. Hide." I wave my hand towards my house after stepping out with my basket resting on my arm. I had developed the habit of hiding and protecting my home after finding a wild boar in my garden a year ago and it had charged at me when I surprised it.
Luckily, I had remembered how to use magic- although I refuse to use the long and embarrassing chats that my memories held. But I quickly found that as long as I have a clear idea of what I want, all I need to say is one word.
I set off after my spells had settled and followed the winding path into the deep forest. I have followed this path before with no issues-so I wasn't expecting to end up in an unfamiliar part of the forest.
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"Guess there is more to this forest then it seems." I said out loud. I developed the habit of talking to myself, mostly due to the strangeness of not hearing familiar sounds- cars, horns, trains, people talking, etc. I had always lived in the city in my life as a company employee, so the silence of the forest took some getting used to.
I managed to find all of the herbs that I needed-now I just needed a path back home.
"Home." I waved my hand, expecting the path to appear as it usually does: which it does not. I sighed and pulled out my wand.
I didn't really like using my wand, mostly due to the fact that I still have my past life common sense where a full grown woman waving around a wand was strange. Although, I do actually like the wand- it is made of Mithril; an very expensive metal that is best for magic conduction and has a special crystal attached to the top of it which stores magic to cast faster spells.
"Home." I waved the wand with a flourish, pointing the tip towards the trees. Finally, the path appears and I tuck my wand into the basket as I walked forward.
'Snap!'
I stop, eyes alert as I scanned the area as something crashed through the underbrush.
'Snap Snap!!'
The sounds get louder and suddenly something rolls into my path causing me to jump back and point my wand at it.
"A child?" I looked closely as he looks up at me, covered in dirt and grime. "What are you doing here- Shield!" I quickly shout as a long clawed arm appeared from the same area as the child.
"Show yourself." I demanded stepping in front of the boy, glaring into the trees.
Give me the boy. A deep scratchy voice boomed from the trees as it's owner attacked again.
"You didn't say the magic word." I blocked its blows and countered attacked- cutting a tree in half.
The tree falls, revealing my assailant to be a 7 foot red-skinned demon with four eyes and two mouths- one on the face and another on its abdomen.
"Demon." I lashed out again and succeeded in cutting off an arm. "You are not welcomed here. Leave."
Give me the boy. It says again as it lunges forward towards him.
"Not happening." I smirked and yelled "PURIFY!!"
AKKKKKKkkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!!!!! The demon screamed as it was consumed by light magic and turned into dust.
"Now then." I turned towards the boy who only stared at me without a word. "What to do with you?"
I reached down went to brushed his long dirty hair away from his eyes, but he flinches away as my fingers closed in and jumped up- ready to run.
"Wait!" I pull back my hands. "It's okay, I'm not going to harm you."
He stops and looks back at me. I could easily tell that he did not trust me at all.
"I won't touch you..." I look him over; he was barely clothed with no shoes- what he did wear was almost as dirty as the rest of him. "Why don't you come with me? Are you hungry?"
He doesn't respond as we stared each other down when a loud grumbling sound echoed between the trees. The boy holds his stomach and looks away as I struggled not to laugh.
"Come, follow me." I gestured at him and started walking off.
The boy waits a moment, watching my back before following me at a safe distance.
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"Come in." I say after my house reappeared and left the door open for him. He was reminding me of a very scared cat that was ready to run at the first sign of trouble. I waved my hand towards the fireplace which quickly warms up into a roaring fire and reached into my storage space for some boar meat, cheese and bread.
I sliced the meat, pretending that I didn't notice the boy peeking around the doorway and placed it into a pan. Soon the smell of roasted meat permeated through the air and I sliced up the bread and cheese before reaching for two cups out of the cupboard.
"Do you want water or tea?" I ask as the boy slides up into a stool at the table behind me. I glance back when he doesn't answer and notice some marks around his throat.
"Hmm." I set down the cups and rummaged through my herb cabinet. "How about some elm tea with honey?"
The kettle starts to whistle as I put some of the elm into a mug then poured the boiling water into it. I waited for a few minutes as I handed the boy a sandwich and a cup of water.
"Go ahead and eat." I encouraged him as I waited for the tea to steep. He glanced at me and stared at the sandwich for a moment before delving into it, completely inhaling the sandwich in three seconds.
"Woah!" I say as he starts to cough. "Take it easy, I won't take your food away. There's plenty more." I hand him another sandwich which he took a little bit more time to eat. The boy finishes his fourth sandwich by the time the tea was ready.
"Take a drink of this." I encouraged. "This will help your throat feel better." I slid the mug over the table towards him and made myself a sandwich.
By the time I finished, he had drank the tea and was rubbing his throat. But I could tell that he wasn't as tense as before.
"My name is Celestia." I say, watching him. "And this is my home. You can stay here for the night if you like."
The boy doesn't say a word, but I could tell he was watching me.
"However, if you are going to stay here- you need to be clean." I stood up and gestured for him to follow me.
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I had modified the house with some modern amenities, mostly due to the fact that I couldn't stand having to do my business in an outhouse and having cold baths. So, I was able to create a plumbing and septic system with a little bit of magic and some ingenuity.
"This is how you turn on the hot and cold water." I carefully demonstrated to the boy. "You will have to find the right combination of hot and cold to get the right temperature- go ahead and use the soap for your body and hair."
I grabbed a towel. "Use this once your all clean to dry yourself. I'll find you some clothes to sleep in for tonight."
I left him alone as he played with the knobs of the bath. It took me a minute to grab a shirt and I knocked on the door. "Did you go in? I have a shirt for you to wear-"
I opened the door, accidently scaring him as he tried getting into the tub. The boy slips and falls on the floor with a small thud.
"Are you okay?" I kneel down besides him trying to see if there was any bruising. I grabbed his arm and was surprised to see it so thin, not noticing that he was trying to pull himself out of my grasp. "Sorry!" I release him quickly. "Did I hurt you?"
The boy stares at me for a moment then slowly shakes his head.
"Okay, if your not hurt- go head and get in." I stand up and place the shirt on the table. "Put this on once your done."
I leave the bathroom and sighed at myself. 'Great idea Celestia- make the boy even more wary of yourself.'
I got busied with cleaning up the kitchen and setting up a sleeping space in my room for the boy as he continued his bath.
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I was reading a book as I waited for the boy to be finished with his bath and set it down once he came into the kitchen.
"Feel better?" I ask him, looking him over.
My shirt was several sizes to big for him, it looked more like a dress then a shirt; his black hair hung limp across his back. It also didn't help that he was very malnourished and small- he looked no more than 6 years old.
"Tomorrow, I will get some better clothes for you so bare with it for now." I say as he sits down in the stool across from me. "Do you have any place to go? Family?"
He stares at me for a second before shaking his head.
"Would you like to stay here?" My question escapes my lips before I could stop it. "I-i mean unless you want me to take you to an orphanage or a church, of course."
We both stare at each other as my question hangs between us. Now that he was clean, I could tell that he had a lot of bruises and cuts all over his body. He shakes his head at me.
"You want me to send you somewhere else?" I ask to which he quickly shakes his head no. "So you want to stay here?"
He shakes his head yes.
"Well, if that is what you want" He nods as I smiled at him. "Will you let me see your neck? I can heal those bruises so you can tell me your name."
He pauses for a moment at my offer before nodding again. I walk over and move a stool besides him and carefully reached for him, lightly brushing my fingers around his neck.
The boy flinches as I touch him; causing me to smile lightly at him as I channeled magic from my hand- rapid healing the deep bruises that ringed around his neck.
"How is that?" I pulled my hand way once the last of the bruises had faded away. "What is your name?"
He swallows a few times and lets out a small cough. "M-my name i-is Alaric."
"Alaric..." For some reason the name felt familiar. "I like it. It's nice to meet you Alaric. I'll show you around in the morning. Lets get some rest."
I lead him into my room and pointed to the small couch on the other side of the room. "For tonight, you can sleep here. I'll have your own room set up tomorrow."
"O-okay." Alaric nods at me.
"I'm going to get ready for bed as well, go ahead and lay down." I leave my room and walk into the bathroom- expecting to see it wet and dirty. To my surprise, other than the bathwater, the rest was clean.
'I guess I need to show him how to use the toilet later and how to drain the tub.' I think to myself as I drained the tub. I used magic for the rest of the mess and changed into a nightgown before heading back to my room.
I carefully open the door, unsure whether or not Alaric would be sleeping yet. I glanced over at the small mound that was Alaric on the couch before sliding into my bed and making myself comfortable.
"Alarm. Protect." I say quietly waving my hand towards my window, setting shield around the house for the night. "Good night Alaric." I mumble, not wanting to wake him up.