Re: Never Ending Nightmare (Tiffanian)
Miranda smiled back at Caleb warmly, happily, the look he gave her making that hint of emotion from before well up inside of her. The young knight took her hand in his, his arm wrapped around her firmly to support her somewhat wobbly legs as the two of them stepped out into the crowded hallway, searching out her parents and her new adoptive sister. The little jar that held the crystal that had been implanted in her womb vibrated ever so slightly, but Miranda barely felt it, and quickly forgot about it. That little rumbling was the last of her encounters with the aliens and their tools for the day, and more or less for the rest of her life. While the memory of the invasion never faded from the mage’s mind, she managed to move past it fairly quickly, even the worst of the experience leaving only a temporary scar on her psyche.
There were a number of arguments from other nobles against the Blackthorne family adopting Maggie due to her commoner blood, but they were quickly and easily dispensed with. After all, the girl was a skilled mage who had already done more than her share to aid Therion, her fairly impressive and important part in the victory outside the tower Goldspike vouching for the skinny girl’s as much as was necessary. She and Miranda didn’t have as much time together as the latter would have liked, but they still got in their fair share of bonding, and with time they really came to treat one another as sisters, the matter of their blood relation trivial. It seemed to do Maggie good; she developed fairly quickly into a polite, considerate young woman with the influence of Miranda and her parents, losing some of her sharp edges and coldness as she was surrounded by love. It heartened Miranda to see the girl begin to act more and more like a normal girl her age, if still retaining her shyness.
Of course, there was a spark of mischief in the skinny little mage that would never quite be extinguished, much to the consternation of Helena and Thomas. Maggie would sometimes play harmless little tricks and pranks on the servants, often using magic, and sometimes she was even bold enough to do so with her adoptive parents. It rather annoyed them, though it was all harmless and done without malice. Once in a blue moon Miranda would even join in on a prank despite it running counter to her nature, her new little sister managing to egg her on into it. The young noble actually found playing the trickster fairly fun, and it was good bonding with Maggie.
Shortly after the invasion had been dealt with, Caleb came calling with the intent to court Miranda. Her parents approved of the relationship relatively quickly and easily, despite her father’s initial reluctance, and Miranda certainly had no problems with the pairing. It elated her that the young knight would show interest in her, an interest that she returned. The emotion between them soon blossomed into love as the two of them dated, either doing various things around the city, or simply staying close to home and talking. Even with that, Miranda still had a lot of time at home with her parents to further train her magic under them. Her abilities, however, had been honed in the battle to a degree that couldn’t be matched by mere schooling. The young mage had already more or less mastered fire, as well as many of the small tricks one could use to make their magic more powerful and effective, so much of her training involved mastering the other schools of magic, as well as learning the basics of ritual magic and some of the more important rituals from her mother.
Miranda and Caleb courted for nearly a year before being serious enough in their minds to introduce the young mage to her future in-laws, which was an interesting experience. The Ironwoods were a friendly enough bunch, but very formal and stiff in a way that Miranda only rarely dealt with even as a noble, and quite concerned with honor and glory; Caleb was by no means the only knight in his immediate family. She still managed to get along fairly well with them, which was relatively important to her; she wanted to have a good relationship with her future husband’s family. It was only half a year more before the two of them decided to join their fates for life, marrying in a small ceremony meant their family and friends.
Of course, a few months after the invasion Miranda’s mother became pregnant again. It was something of a surprise to the girl, considering her parents’ age, but perhaps the near-death experience had inspired them to enjoy life and each other while they could… Miranda and Maggie both teased them about being too old to have another kid, which sometimes got them a little flustered, but it was all in good fun. Helena had a little baby boy just before Miranda and Caleb got married, and named him Michael. Miranda loved her baby brother, and helped the hired nanny and her parents take care of him as much as she could, to prepare herself for making a family of her own someday soon.
Despite the general happiness of her life post-invasion, there was still one event that weighed heavily on Miranda’s mind. She often found her thoughts clouded by memory of the woman she had accidentally killed atop the blacksmith shop in her desperate bid to avoid being killed by one of the stealthy alien lizards. It was a painful memory that bothered her quite a bit when she thought about it, though for a long while she tried her best not to think about it. Between that nagging source of guilt and unhappiness and her somewhat suppressed memories of being raped by the slime, Miranda didn’t really seek to have sex with Caleb during their courting, or even after marriage. Perhaps knowing that she might have troubles as a result of her incident with the slime, and being the nice, accommodating guy that he was, her husband didn’t try to pressure her on the matter, or really even ask her for it; when she was ready, she would let him know, or at least so he thought.
Finally, a little over a month into her marriage, Miranda decided to do something about her feelings of guilt. She made her way to the city’s shrine to Naya, the goddess of life, and prayed for forgiveness for the accidental sin, and asking what penance would be necessary to make up for it. She soon received an answer; she would have to conceive a child. On hearing that the young noble asked what the woman’s name had been, so that she could name her first daughter after her accidental victim. Alice, her name had been; it was a nice name, a good one to give a little girl. Miranda felt better already, a weight lifting off her shoulders as she discovered her way out of the guilt. That night she pushed Caleb towards the bed they shared a little early after dinner, intent on starting on her penance, and also on getting past the slight hangup that had held them back in this part of their relationship. The two of them had a long, memorable night as they finally consummated their marriage, and their first union turned out to be a productive one; a few months later Miranda would find that her belly was beginning to expand with her first child.
In the meantime, though, their first night had also apparently been a loud one. All of the bedrooms were in the same wing, the walls were not all that thick, and the two of them had been in no mood to think about being discrete. The result was that Maggie and Helena teased both of them mercilessly about it, Thomas just looking rather glum, amusingly enough. The two of them were intensely embarrassed, and were a little more careful in the future, though it was really hard to avoid being heard. And they went at it quite a lot in the few months before they discovered that Miranda was pregnant, giving the Blackthorne family something of an earful from time to time. Of course, every so often they could also hear Miranda’s parents making love, which prompted counter-teasing that her mother dealt with with a surprising dignity and grace, her father a little less so. There were unfortunately few secrets in that regard in their house, which was mildly uncomfortable, but they all adjusted in time.
When they discovered that Miranda was pregnant, however, she and Caleb made preparations to move out of her parents’ home, looking for a place of their own. They eventually found a property on the outskirts of town, not too far from everything, but in an area without much hustle and bustle; it would probably be a better place to raise children, or so they thought. At around the same time Maggie was sent off to the Academy for testing, assessing her abilities as a mage. That, unfortunately, was the moment the orcs swept across Crolia, the horde of warriors taking all by surprise. Though perhaps it was fortunate, in the grand scheme of things. Maggie fought valiantly at the Academy, playing an integral role in turning back the tide of the orcish advance permanently, and silencing forever any remaining grumbles about her commoner status. The skinny mage even managed to find the love of her life during the battle, another young noble mage from a relatively minor family.
When Miranda and Caleb moved into their own home, they took with them the jar that held the little crystal that had been implanted in her womb; they had learned just after the invasion that it was some sort of reproductive device for the slimes, meant to create a new slime whenever the victim had sex. They also took the small box that held Nero, carefully labeled as something evil and never to be opened. They locked both things in a vault deep in the basement, where Miranda never went; she wasn’t comfortable in the same room as Nero’s prison, or in the next room, as she always thought she could hear the daemon’s voice whispering to her, urging her to set him free once more, promising not to misbehave this time. It was probably all in her head, but it unnerved her, and she didn’t want to hear that voice ever again.
Caleb himself was called away to battle the orcs even as Miranda carried their child, leaving her to worry and pray for his safe return nervously. He came back from his first tour of duty unscathed, and just in time to witness the birth of his first child, a daughter that they named Alice to complete the penance. While the two of them did hire a nanny to go with the other household servants, Miranda spent a lot of time with the little girl herself, breastfeeding like any other mother, though some nobles eschewed the practice and hired wetnurses for such things. Of course, the servants were the ones who had to endure the majority of the sleepless nights on account of the baby… The love between Miranda and Caleb only grew as they took care of their daughter, which of course led to another pregnancy not long afterwards, just in time for him to be called to war again. In his absence Miranda worried quite a bit, praying for his safety each day, though she busied herself with her child, and visiting her parents. Her little brother was more like a son to her with the age difference, and especially since he was just a bit older than Alice; the perfect age for the two of them to become playmates eventually.
The next few years continued on much like that. Caleb was away for about half of any given year, though not all at once. Together they raised their young children and made more, saving some time for just the two of them. They were happy times, though nervy and scary times as well when Caleb was off to battle. Miranda spent quite a lot of her time pregnant in those early years, the two of them having a very… difficult time holding back when he was at home, mostly out of relief. Ultimately they had five children in the span of about six years, two girls and three boys. Though Michael was technically their uncle, they all grew up playing together, and all of them thought of him as an older brother.
Most of them were quite good at magic from an early age, especially the girls. With her parents’ help Miranda taught them all she knew, though a few of the boys didn’t really seem that interested, taking more after their father than their mother. Alice was different, though. It was almost hard to teach her, with how naturally magic came to her, and she could use a form of magic that few had ever seen before. While she called fire much like Miranda, the flames were pure white, and somehow hotter, brighter. The young girl could also summon angels from the age of 5, something that scared her mother quite a lot when it first happened. From that point she was strictly forbidden from summoning angels without cause; there was no need to waste the time of the divine, after all. She also grew up looking very little like her parents, which often confused people, though Miranda knew the truth; the girl was blessed of Naya, and not only their child.
Throughout her children’s childhoods Miranda had them all spending a fair amount of time with their grandparents and aunt and uncle, visiting the lot of them often. She didn’t want her, her parents, and Maggie to live separate lives now that the kids had moved out and started families of their own, and definitely wanted her children to grow up knowing the people she loved and cared for. They all got along quite well, and had quite a lot of fun together over the years, Helena and Thomas getting in a few magic lessons with their grandkids from time to time, with varying reception from the children.
The children all grew up to be fairly impressive. Michael had some talent at magic, and was also quite adept at interpersonal relations, making a wonderful sort of politician. He carried on the Blackthorne name admirably, expanding the family’s size, its wealth, and its standing over the years. Alice grew up to be a very serious young lady with something of a grim disposition towards the outside world, though she seemed at ease amongst her family and friends, able to lighten up around those who were close to her. She was outraged by the wickedness she saw and heard about in the world, the suffering and pain brought upon others by alien and demon and orc. From a young age the girl trained as hard as she could both in her special kind of magic, and with the sword, taking after both mother and father. Miranda always worried about her firstborn, wishing the girl could just be happy with a quiet life much like the one she lived, though she supposed she wouldn’t trade the sense of justice that drove her daughter for any lesser trait. Before even her twentieth birthday Alice was a force to be reckoned with, and soon she went out on campaign. Before too many years were up she was a paladin renowned world-wide, crusading against evil-doers who would dare to hurt others wherever they might be, making Miranda and Caleb very proud of her. Eventually the girl would go on to found her own order of knights, and a quite prestigious one at that.
Alice was a tough act to follow, but the others did a fine enough job. One of Miranda and Caleb’s sons became warrior much like his father, albeit with some magical talent that his mother helped him refine. Though he didn’t quite get the same glory his older sister did he was a fine soldier for Therion, fighting in many battles before making a family of his own. Their other daughter turned into quite the young mage, acing her Academy exams and then staying there afterward, becoming an instructor much like her grandmother had been. Another of their sons followed his sister to the Academy, though the life of an instructor wasn’t for him. He decided instead to delve into politics with his uncle, eventually becoming an advisor to royalty. Their third son aimed a little bit lower; he joined the city guard, slowly but steadily working his way up the ranks until he was a commander, always staying close to home. Miranda loved them all, and was quite proud of their accomplishments.
One afternoon some thirty odd years after the invasion Miranda sat on her front porch in a wooden rocking chair next to Caleb, staring out at the sunset. Maggie and her husband had come to visit that day, so the two of them were there, enjoying the quiet time. Miranda was getting on in years, in her fifties by now, her hair beginning to gray as wrinkles formed in her face. Her parents had died together not long ago, peacefully in their sleep; it had been sad, but not terribly so. They had lived long, fulfilling lives before departing for the afterlife together, not having to spend a moment apart. Miranda could only hope for a similarly beautiful ending to her own life. Her children had all grown and moved out of the house by now, besides one they had late, much like her parents had done with Michael. The young boy had been an accident, but not an unhappy one, and raising him had helped Miranda in her transition into her old age.
As she watched the sun starting to set her mind wandered back to the invasion so many years ago, as it sometimes did, and how that nightmarish day had changed her life forever. She had shed the cowardice that had so defined her up to that point; while she was always prone to fear, she had been able to battle through it ever since that day. It had honed her skill with magic and driven home her parents’ teachings, and instilled something of a work ethic in her as she discovered the worth of such knowledge and skill. She had met the love of her life, she thought, and she reached out to squeeze Caleb’s hand as she smiled. In a roundabout way, it had given her Alice. The sudden nature of it had reshaped her priorities, causing her to value time with those she loved over all else, because you never knew when something terrible might happen, even if it weren’t so drastic as an alien invasion, and you couldn’t be sure how much time you had with someone. Really, she didn’t want to imagine what she would be like if she had never been through that day. She would probably still be a lazy, cowardly slob, drifting through life without any priorities at all. That nightmare had made her into a better person, a much happier person ultimately.
As Miranda watched the sun slowly sink down beneath the horizon, painting the clouds above orange and pink, she couldn’t help but think that despite all the pain and suffering that existed in it, it was a wonderful, beautiful world.
