The snow had fallen a while ago, and that meant that the winter crops that only grew in the snow would be sprouting soon, the gaurds would all have their hands full before long. It made me happy that all of them were always so eager to get to work. Maybe it was a bit odd but our guards were also our farmers and craftsmen. Essentially, they all had many trades. The barracks itself wasn't a regular barracks either. Instead of having one room for the men and one for the women. Each family had their own apartment-like room within the building. There was a main gathering room just inside the front door, but that was the only shared space.

'They sound lively…' I thought as I walked through the building, slipping my way through them to get to the Catherines room, but when I made it to the door I hesitated to knock. 'I haven't seen her sense she helped wash all the acid off my skin.' I softly kicked the door a few times, keeping my hands under the cloak for warmth.

"Just a minute!" She yelled, and before long the door creaked open. "Siya…" She smiled. I got the feeling she wanted to say something more, but she left it at just my name.

"Hey Cathy…"

"Here, come in. I'll make you some tea."

I hesitantly stepped into her room. Her armor was lying on the ground, strewn across the floor and her bed. Weapons were loosely thrown about, some even out of their sheaths. A couple of sets of clothes draped over various chairs and her bed frame. It made me feel a little claustrophobic, and unsure of where to stand.

Besides all that, she was in the middle of changing. When she opened the door all she had on was a loose fitting sleeveless shirt and a pair of thin shorts that were so tight they looked more like underwear. " Cathy… Did you know it was me?"

She walked back over to her closet and pulled over a more modest shirt that had long sleeves and hung down past her hips, designed as padding to go under her armor.. "No, I had no idea. I thought it was that brat Nillous again coming to whine about my responsibilities or some nonsense."

"You thought it was a guy and really still opened the door looking like that?"

She had bunched her hair behind her head and was tying it up when she suddenly paused, looking back at me with the tie in her mouth. "Hm? Well… Yeah?"

'Honestly… The only reason I don't think of you as my mom is because you act like a guy…' "Would it have really taken you that much longer to at least put on your outer shirt?"

The thick gambeson hung straight from it's heavy weight, brushing just past her upper thigh and falling just below her shorts,m aking it almost look like she wasn't wearing anything underneath, which in a way was even worse…

"What does that matter anyway?"

I let out a heavy sigh. "You're practically naked, you're really ok with a guy seeing you like that? Nillous is 24 you know… He's not a kid…"

She finally buttoned her shorts and began putting on her leather pants that went under her metal greaves, each piece only clinging more tightly than the last as the layers barley fit over her body. "Your clothes are all too small…" I grumbled, almost turning away as I somehow started feeling embarrassed for her.

"The tighter the better, It feels good, and helps me keep my body tense for when I take hits." She slowly looked around before grabbing her belt off the floor.

"Seriously?"

She grimaced as she finished fastening her greaves. "It's not like I answered the door Naked. I did put on some clothes first."

I raised a fist and let my head sink into my knucles. "The fact that you weren't wearing any clothes at all before I knocked actually makes it worse. The door wasn't even locked. I could tell from how fast you opened it…"

She scoffed, letting out a puff of air like a teenager before she rolled her eyes. "Did you need something mom…"

I couldn't help smiling just a little as she stuck her tongue out at me before grinning and rubbing my head, walking past to the kitchen and putting a kettle over the fire. 'I kind of feel bad for the wives… Having to deal with her like this…' I sighed. 'And all the guys that arn't married yet…' Shaking my head I finally moved on. "Bhaltair kicked me in the face and I tore open my arm with a war bow. Airsidh told me to come see you.

She sighed, "Oh, right. I heard about…" While I slowly looked over her room one more time I suddenly felt her wrap her arms around me from behind, freezing me stiff. "When are you going to get stronger already so that you can stop worrying me… Brat."

"I can tell your so worried…" 'you didn't even remember and asked why I was here…'

Awkwardly holding on as my confused body sat still like a doll, she folded her arms over my shoulders, resting her head on my chin and leaning on me. "While I was washing the acid off you became so delirious you started calling me mom… THAT was scary."

"It's not like I was that far off…" I muttered.

'She is the complete opposite of Mara. Not just how she acts but everything. Her voice is deep per… Her expressions…'

As she finally let go at the sound of the kettles whistle I turned back to look at her. Solid golden brown hair mesily waved over her clothes. It was a bit on the darker side and hung down past her waist. Her broad shoulders stuck out tightly against her shirt, with stitching covering tears from where it had ripped before. She was just generally larger in every way when compared to Mara. Not as toned with a bit more fat… But that really just exagerated her. There was certainly the feeling of impossibility that I would ever look like my birth mother… But… Not so much as the feeling of insanity that someone that looked like her even existed. 'I mean… How can she even eat enough food to stay that big… She's almost more like father… Not to mention–'

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Do I have something on my face?" she asked, catching me staring.

"No no… I was just thinking… How pretty you were."

She blushed slightly, which was admittedly unexpected. It was almost unatural to see her get shy. Especially after the way she answered the door.

"So uh… Your face and arm, nothing else bothering you?"

"No… Just imminent death and all the ways it may occur…" I sighed sitting down and spreading my arms out over the table, looking at my nails. "I am… Worried about other stuff too I guess…"

"Yeah, I bet. You're getting to that age now."

I almost instantly regretted continuing the conversation. "That's not what I meant," I said bluntly, my face falling flat as I looked up at her over myshoulder while she set the table and poured the tea.

"Uh… Oh. What did you mean then?"

"I was just nervous about starting training again, that's all… No way I'm going to get any sleep…"

She stood up and walked over to me patting me on the head again. "You survived this long, haven't you? What's a little bit of training after fighting that big monster."

"Please stop… You're probably just getting your hands dirty…" She laughed and hugged me again. "Like that would stop me from picking on you, you're too cute."

At first, I tried to push her away, but after a moment I awkwardly gave in again. I still didn't hug her back but… 'Maybe this isn't so bad…' "I wish you were around more…"

'Shes not exactly like my mom… Or even like my older sister, she's like… There's no one to compare her too…'

"Hm? What was that? Siya, can you help me with this?"

My eyes drifted back into focus as my body started to feel hot, as if it was warming up from the inside. "Seriously Cathy, can you get new armor? Or even just have the tailors add length to the straps or something." 'This ridiculous… How do you even outgrow clothes after ou become an adult…'

"Well it fit fine earlier…" She growled "I guess I gained some weight while we were in the city."

I rolled my eyes and walked over to her, helping her latch all of the easy straps first, of course, it was the one that tightened the plate around her chest that had the most trouble, as if all her so called weight was gained in one area in particular. "When did some start meaning a lot?" I grunted, pulling tightly.

Eventually, I managed to get it all fastened, but it was exhausting and I only began to feel even hotter, the cold now nowhere to be felt. "There, see? No problem." She said, trying to hide the fact that she was also a little out of breath as she grabbed and shifted the plates.

As she turned around I let out a soft whine. "Cathy… The armor tore."

"What? Have they gotten that large?"

I rolled my eyes, my tired arms following them. "This has nothing to do with your chest Cathy… Your back is just way too wide. What have you been doing to gain so much muscle in the past 6 months?"

She looked down, slipping her fingers into the tear in the stitching that held the leather together "Here I'll get the mirror. Maybe I can just ignore it."

"What the! You can't just ignore a whole in your armor!" I nearly froze as my brain caught up with my mouth. 'The mirror?' I repeated in my mind. I still had never seen myself. I didn't know if I had a chubby face, big eyes, or big ears. Chills ran through my body as she carried a full-body mirror out of the closet and placed it in front of me.

I bit my bottom lip and turned away before I could see clearly. 'It's too sudden… Do I even want to see what I look like?' Unable to resist, I slowly turned back and opened my eyes as she stepped back next to me.

"Maybe it really is time I get some new armor… You know, this kind of thing never happened with enchanted gear…"

I slowly forced my eyes away from her, her words falling to the floor instead of reaching my mind as I saw my apearance. I was this tiny little thing, gently holding one arm across my chest and shyly looking straight ahead. My long hair was expertly put up and braided, and I could make out a faint orange color, though it was a bit oily…

'I guess it's not brown… I wonder how it would look if I managed to wash it with soap?'

Big silver eyes popped out of my small face, practically shimmering like moonlight. My ears and nose were small, my mouth was the same. I had several scars, but none of them directly covered my face, they were mostly on my neck or near my ears, blocked by my hair. 'So… This is what she called cute…'

I was dirty, just like I thought… But… I was… kind of cute… I guess? I hoped that was true at least, but I couldn't tell…

"Everything alright?"

"So that's me…" I moved my right hand, only to see my mirrored left-hand move. It almost gave me vertigo, confusing my senses before I quickly got used to it.

"Who else would it be?"

I unbuckled Finlo's cloak, letting it drop to the floor. Suddenly the impression I gave off shifted drastically. My arms were large for my frame and covered in scars that made it look like I was a 20-year veteran monster hunter. I hiked up the hem of my dress. My legs were the same. There was virtually no fat on my body at all, in fact, I probably had more scars...

Whether that was still because I was recovering, or because of my training I didn't know, but I could see the striations in some of my muscles, like I almost didn't even have skin. "Am I some kind of freak?" I wouldn't go as far as to say I looked like a bodybuilder, but it felt close, and seeing that physique on the frame of my childlike body gave me a strange melancholy feeling. It was kind of gross… But it was also kind of cool, when I flexed my arms, they actually flexed, unlike in my past life where it was just an expresion.

"Well. You're not normal." She said, looking at the mirror and clearly thinking the same thing.

I timidly put the cloak back on, wrapping it around myself to hide. "Hm…"

"Don't worry about it, you're still recovering from your father's magic. Your body regenerates the muscle tissue first in order to survive. After that, it starts regenerating the fat. You're probably still really hungry, right? Just keep eating and you'll be fine."

"It's because of fathers magic… What do you mean? All he did was heal me."

"You don't know much about magic do you…"

"I guess not…"

She took her teacup and placed it at the center of the table. "Magic is a tool that can change the fabric of reality, tearing and restoring it depending on the strength of one's will. You understand that much right."

"Uh… Sure…"

"Magic is categorized into tiers, 1 being the lowest. Tier one magic is greatly restricted and limited by natural laws. Still with me?"

I nodded slowly.

"Your father isn't a great mage, he only knows a little magic, he can't use high-level magic… He didn't use healing magic, he used recovery magic… Tier two recovery magic to be precise."

"Ok… what's the difference."

"Healing magic heals you from the manna supply of the caster. It's either high-tier or divine magic. Recovery magic speeds up your body's natural healing process. It uses up the caster's manna… But it also expands the energy of the healed person, using up their mana and stamina. I'm sure you felt tired after he healed you right?"

"So… It's a double-edged sword…"

"Right, it's dangerous to use a spell like that without the level of control your father has over his manna."

It didn't bother me so much since it worked out in the end. Rather, it explained why my father hugged me so tightly before casting the spell. 'He must have been so scared… Does that mean I really would have just died if he didn't do that?'

"Anyway, the difference between tier 1 and 2 is that the spell he cast lingers, accelerating your metabolism and helping your body to regenerate all of the energy it lost while you were healing. Of course, this relies on you eating a lot, so make sure you aren't skipping any meals."

I took a long deep breath before letting it out in a sigh. "Geez, this would have been nice to know earlier…"

She laughed. "Your family isn't exactly good with words are they."

"Guess not…"

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