Lilia's Tale

Chapter 28: Training

Morning was uneventful. I woke up later than I normally would, meaning I had to cook something quickly. Once we were done eating, Father and I headed outside, although it seemed that we were going to another field than the usual one.

As soon as I could see the place I was being brought to, I recognized it. In contrast to the greenery surrounding the house due to the forest, the place was brown. There wasn't a single bit of grass in sight anywhere, and the dirt itself looked dry, empty of any life.

I threw up the quick breakfast I had cooked as soon as memories hit me. The scenery wasn't anything I was afraid of, or anything that disgusted me. Instead, I remembered why it was in such a state. And I couldn't take it. Once my stomach's contents were laid onto the ground, my head was pounding like it was going to explode. I couldn't even stand anymore.

Thankfully, Father caught me before I fell onto the ground, likely into my own filth. I could hear him say something, but I couldn't decipher what due to the intense headache. My vision was blurry, my ears ringing, all my senses were thrown into disarray. Yet, I could still feel myself moving. Where and how, however, was a mystery, as I fell unconscious.

I eventually woke up with my headache as powerful as before. I was in a significantly better condition, however, as I could see and hear well enough I could consider these senses functional. I sat down as I could, moving slowly to not invoke any unnecessary pain. I looked around and realized I was in my room.

I tried to recall the events that led to me being here, and my headache, while slowly getting out of bed. It wasn't hard to remember, but it also made things a lot more painful than they would have been otherwise. I thought to myself it was necessary in order to improve my condition, and simply moved on, handling the pain as I could.

Right before leaving my room to go to the main room, Father opened the door, accidentally hitting me in the process. I fell down backwards, unable to maintain my balance due to the sheer amount of stress my headache was putting me through. He quickly came to my aid, apologizing profusely.

"You should be resting," he said after leading me back to my bed.

"I probably should, but I feel like it's a waste of time. I'm probably just overreacting."

"No, it's my fault, I went too far with the training."

Him mentioning the training got my attention, or what was left of it. I looked at him, hoping he would understand I wished for more information.

"Y-You don't have to look at me like that. I'm honestly sorry," he stuttered after a short silence.

"What did you mean by training," I replied after sighing, trying my best to not fall unconscious again from the pain.

"I was thinking that your inability to deal with water magic being cast around you has something to do with your trauma. I thought that, maybe, just like that time in town, exposing you continuously to it would fix it. I went too far, I once again apologize. I didn't realize it would affect you that badly."

I had to focus as much as I could on what he was saying in order to properly hear and understand what he said, but it wasn't a waste. My pain was only amplified from the mention of my trauma, but I powered through it to take one last action and say one last sentence.

"You're forgiven," I replied, hugging him, before falling back unconscious from the pain.

Waking up yet another time today wasn't any easier. My headache, while having partially subsided, was still going strong. I quickly noticed I was back in my bed, so I assumed Father had taken care of me while I wasn't available. I slowly stood up, making every move carefully to not increase my stress load, and left my room towards the main room.