The Conqueror’s Sister

POV: Zaya Shyes – 4 years old

”Hey Zaya, say hi to your new baby brother, Curtis. ”

Mommy is holding a baby. Baby is my brother.

”Hewo badda. ”

”This is your older sister. Say hi to Zaya. ”

”Hi Zaya, this is Curtis speaking. ”

Daddy is waving brothers hand. Speaking like a baby. Daddy makes us laugh.

”Oh Owen, stop teasing… Zaya, touch Curtiss hand. ”

”It sof, mommy. ”

”Yeah… ”

Brother smiled.

”Owen! Owen! Did you see that? Curtis smiled! He already loves you Zaya! Your touch made him smile. ”

”Weally?! ”

Me touching brother makes us all happy.

”Zaya, touch him gently. Gently now. ”

Me touching brother gently makes us all happy.

***

6 months later…

”Owen, Owen! You aren gonna believe it! Curtis is already crawling. ”

Mommy is talking to Daddy on the phone. Curtis is crawling on the floor in the television room.

”I know, I know! He shouldn be for another few months. I was worried when I couldn breastfeed him, but maybe hes just a superspeed baby. Blasting past all the important milestones. ”

Curtis is crawling towards me.

”Hell be walking in a week! ”

Mommy laughs. I laugh. Curtis makes a baby noise. I hug him gently.

”I already took a video of him. Ill send it to you. Hes absolutely adorable! ”

”Mommy! ”

”Yes Zay — Oh honey, Curtis seems a bit uncomfortable, can you let go of him? ”

I let go. Curtis crawls away.

***

8 months later…

”Owwwwie! ”

It hurts. My knee hurts. My arm hurts. It hurts so much that I have to cry.

”Zaya. Hey, Zaya. Can you tell me where it hurts? ”

Daddy helps booboos go away.

”Wight…, ” sniffle, ”Here. ”

I point to my knee and arm.

”Alright. This may tingle a little bit. Want to hold my hand? ”

I nod. He grabs my good-feeling hand. I look at his other hand and a blue light comes from it. The blue light feels like a warm shower. The pain slowly goes away.

”Lets not tell Mommy about this little accident, ok? She would feel bad if she found out that you got hurt on your new birthday bike. ”

The pain in my knee and arm are gone. I brush the tears off my face. I love Daddys magic.

”So lets make a pinky promise. You promise to not tell mom you got hurt today, and I promise that I won let go of the bike again. ”

Daddy has his pinky up. I do not want mom to feel bad. I hug Daddys pinky with my own.

***

16 days later…

Mommys finger lit up the candle on Curtiss birthday cake. For my birthday, Mommys finger lit five candles.

Curtis was sitting on a baby chair. The yummy-looking cake in front of him. Me. Mommy. Daddy. Nana. Papa. My best friend, Darra. We sang a birthday song to Curtis.

We finished the song.

”Mommy! Can I bwoah out dah can-deh? ”

If I jump up and down in front of mom, she will listen to me.

”Can I? ”

”Sure, Honey. Since Curtis can do it. ”

”Yay! ”

I put my arms up to let Mommy pick me up. She carried me to the white cake on the baby chair. I sucked in air to blow out the candle.

Curtis giggled.

The candle went out.

***

11 months later…

It is almost time for bed, but I hear Daddys voice in his study. Who is Daddy talking to?

”Mana is the invisible particles that surround everyone and everything, and are utilized in many different facets of our daily lives. ”

Daddy is sitting on the sofa in his study with Curtis on his lap. A book in his hands. The study has many books. All the books stay in the large bookcases, which cover two walls.

”Most people use mana for — Oh hi Zaya. ”

I was hugging the large door frame of the study. He had seen me peak in.

”What-ya doin, Daddy? ”

”I am reading this book about magic to Curtis. He walked in a moment ago, and pointed at it. It is an advanced book about mana manipulation, so he won understand it, but I figured I would read it to him anyways. ”

Curtis shuffled on Daddys lap.

”Dadadadaa ”

Curtis tried to say Daddy, I think.

”You want to listen too? ”

I nodded as he patted the seat next to him. I climbed onto the sofa, and scooted next to Daddy. The book he was holding open had a lot of words that I did not understand. With only a single picture on the opened pages.

”Ok. So where did I leave off? ”

Daddy found where he left off with his finger.

”Most people use mana for convenience, nowadays, but there are still many who use it for combative purposes. This book will encompass everything you need to know about mana manipulation, from its practical, everyday use, to the skills needed to become a full fledged adventurer. Since mana is the main source of power for almost everything, each chapter of this book is just an introduction of said topic… ”

I love mana. I love mana because it makes magic. Magic that makes booboos go away, like Daddy, or light birthday candles, like Mommy.

”… two types of mana. Living Mana, which is mana currently possessed by any living or non-living things, and Ambient Mana, when it is floating dormant in the atmosphere. Ambient Mana is invisible, and useless, until converted into Living Mana… ”

I do not understand everything that Daddy is reading, but I want to. I need to if I want to use magic. ”

”… discovered ambient mana — ”

”Daddy. ”

”Yes, sweetie? ”

”When wih I get mag-yic? ”

Daddy smiled and then laughed. Curtis giggled, too.

”Oh, is my little girl getting a little impatient? ”

”No. ”

I do not know what that word means. I just want magic now.

”It will come soon enough. The manucible usually finishes developing for kids around your age. ”

”So soon? ”

Daddy smiled again. I like when Daddy smiles. It makes me feel happy.

”Yes, soon. ”

”Yay! ”

I am excited now, so I am jumping up and down on Daddys sofa. I am going to get magic soon. But then Mommy peaked her head into Daddys study.

”Zaya, honey. It is time for bed. ”

”Noooo. Pwease, Mommy! Can Daddy wead tis to me a bit longah? ”

Curtis made a baby noise. Mommy was silent for a little.

”Oh, alright, but only for a few more minutes. ”

Mommy sat next to me. Daddy continued reading.

”In order to effectively convert Ambient Mana to Living Mana, one needs to… ”

***

1 year later…

”Hey honey, how was school today? ” Momma asked.

I jumped into the backseat of the car. Closed the door. Then, hopped on my booster seat behind Mommas driver seat. Curtis was also in the car using the baby seat behind the passenger seat. He waved and said, ”Hewo ”.

”Helwo… It was gud. ”

I lied. School sucks. Everyone makes fun of me because I still can use magic. Except Darra, my best friend. She doesn make fun of me, even though she got her magic a few months ago.

”What did you learn today? ”

”In maph, we did addi-shin, but I know sub-taction and timesing al-weady, so it was e-zy. I also wead a few sen-tences in weading. The teachah said I wead weally well. ”

”Thats great, honey! You
e really smart for your age, you know that. You could probably skip a year. ”

”But Daw-wa is in my class. I don want to leave Daw-wa. ”

”I know, honey. Your Dad and I won force you to do something you don want to do. ”

It was silent for a little bit.

”We also had mag-yic contwol class, today, but I did not paw-ticipate. ”

”Oh, thats alright, honey. Your teachers know you don have your ma