Dream Beyond Life's Edge

Back Into the Past

Far from the reaches of Talia's hand was a kettle of steaming tea. "Julius, the tea."

"Sure." Julius brought the kettle closer which Talia grabbed.

A stream of hot tea came pouring out of its spout and into Talia's glass. After putting a couple block of sugar, she produced a stick and awkwardly spun it around, mixing it. Annoyed at the awkwardness of her left hand, she mixed the tea faster wanting to get used to it. Only for it to splash on the table. "Oh. Come on." With a glance at Alexia, Talia made a silent plea.

Understanding what she meant, Alexia took the glass and chanted, "Ae-ris." The tea formed a whirlwind and the sugar rapidly mixed with it.

"Thanks." Talia took back the glass and quickly drank the tea.

Although the sun hadn't even set, Talia left the dining room and attempted sleeping. The conversation she had with her mother had exhausted her from all of her energy, but still, she couldn't do it. Seldom does the future possibilities of her power roam her mind as it was mostly clouded with the sight of her own corpse. The words her mother left her with hadn't helped either. Talia, in her bed and encased by a blanket, stared mindlessly at the cabinet on the other side of the room—at the notebook containing her dreams.

What will I see after death, I wonder...?

Talia quickly ridded her head of that thought. Although she felt worried about her future death, she simply couldn't imagine it happening. At least, not right now. The state of her body and that of the corpse was simply too different. She'd lost her last remaining arm and both legs. And the most important was that she looked much older. She'd have to worry about it later but, right now it shouldn't affect her. She shouldn't be worrying about it. So why...? Why can't she put it off to the side?

A number of knocks were done on the door to Talia's room. "It's Leo."

"Come, enter."

Followed by the sound of a click, Leo unlocked the door and opened it. Light instantly filled the room as the fairyflower became lit ablaze. "Hey. Sorry about that. I honestly shouldn't have let you see her. But it's a necessary experience. And it's better for you to see her now rather than later, so that you can make your own conclusions."

"Yeah... You're not wrong." Though she didn't like the way Leo thought about things, she had to admit, it was her own want that led her to meet Jane.

"At least, that was what I thought. But it seems that there are some circumstances beyond what I knew. What did you mean by your own corpse?" Leo's question hadn't completely surprised Talia; the moment she brought up her body in front of him, she'd prepared herself for the questioning.

"It's just that. In the forest is a corpse of me. Keep in mind, Alexia found it long before my esper power ascended." Back then, neither Talia nor Alexia had any idea what that meant, but now, it was quite obvious.

"And what happened to that corpse?" Leo asked.

"I asked Alexia to bury it. I also told her to tell no one about it." Her body have probably decayed beyond any recognizability by now. "There would be no point in opening the burial; I did it weeks ago."

Leo let out a long sigh and straightened himself, preparing to leave. "Next time, please report these things. Honestly, we're desperate for leads. If you don't want Stadtmen knowing, tell me; don't let such crucial things slip into his hands." After Talia nodded assent, Leo snuffed the fairyflower off, and left.

#####

"Py-ris." A burst of flame followed Talia's chant before dissipating, then her mana grew. Though at first disorienting, she'd gotten used to the bursts of mana she'd get from casting magic. But as she couldn't control her magic that well, her prohibition from using magic still hasn't been lifted. "Hey, isn't this taking too much time?"