My mommy was taken away by a giant lightning hand. It’s not fair! Auntie Ilya says Mommy will be fine, and I’ll see her again after I become an immortal, but when will that happen? I asked Ri, and she said the average age of an immortal is three thousand years old! It took me so long to grow to six years old; it’ll take me forever to become three thousand!

“Why don’t you try a bite? Just one.”

My other mommy is trying to get me to eat, but nothing tastes as good as Mommy’s cooking. I won’t starve to death because eating immortal rice isn’t that bad—I can swallow it with juice—but my tummy will definitely shrink. In three thousand years, my tummy might not even exist anymore. I’ll just be a skeleton. That’s what my mommy told me would happen if I didn’t eat.

“Sophia, please?” my mommy asked. She scooped up a spoonful of stew and held it in front of my mouth, but I’m not going to try it! I already tried it by smelling it, and I know I won’t like it. After staring at me for a bit, my mommy sighed. “Okay. I’ll hire a new chef tomorrow; maybe they’ll make something better than this.”

My mommy swept the food away into her interspatial ring. Then, out of nowhere, Auntie Ilya appeared. “Hey, I thought I’d find you here,” Auntie Ilya said. She held something out towards me. It was a folded piece of paper. “It’s a letter from your mom.”

“From Lucia?” my mommy asked and grabbed at the letter.

Auntie Ilya’s wrist flicked, and she slapped the back of Mommy’s hand with the letter. “It’s not addressed to you. It’s for Sophia.”

“My mommy sent me a letter?” If she sent me a letter, then she knows where I am. How come she didn’t come home to see me instead? I’ll take the letter and open it. Um, this really is Mommy’s handwriting. I can tell because it’s messy; not only are the characters crooked, but the lines are slanted too. My other mommy sat next to me, and I crumpled the letter before she could see. She reads really fast; one glance is enough for her to finish reading the whole thing. “I want to read it first!”

My mommy sighed and gave Auntie Ilya an angry look before moving her chair to the side. When she was far enough away, I opened the letter again. Wow! Mommy was transported to the immortal realm and discovered the land of the squirrels. It’s a place called the seven mountain ranges, and it’s so large that one mountain is bigger than our whole home! There’s a ruler of the place, and Mommy became the ruler’s disciple. Once she learns enough from her master, who’s super beautiful, pretty, awesome, and strong, she’ll bring me there! Mommy never described anyone else as beautiful, pretty, awesome, and strong before. Is her master that amazing?

“The last part probably wasn’t written by your mom,” Auntie Ilya said. “Although you can’t tell because you’re still a kid, that sentence was tampered with. If I had to make a guess, her new master read her letter and changed some things.”

“Lucia became someone’s disciple?” my mommy asked and rushed over. This time, I didn’t stop her from reading it. After a second, Mommy exhaled. “At least she’s doing well for herself. I was afraid she’d offend someone stronger than herself with the way she behaves.”

Auntie Ilya shrugged. “There’s still plenty of time in the future for her to do that.”

Mommy became someone’s disciple. “I want to be someone’s disciple too!”

My mommy’s neck cracked as she turned to look at me. “You want to become someone’s disciple? Whose? Did one of the teachers at school ask to become your master?”

“No.” No one ever asked me to be their disciple before. Um, I think a lot of the teachers are scared of me because of my mommy and Auntie Ilya. Only Mrs. Feathers isn’t scared, but she’s not taking in disciples. Uncle Claw isn’t scared of me either, but he’s really scary to be around. “Can I be Auntie Ilya’s disciple?”

“Absolutely not!” my mommy said, almost shouting at me. She glared at Auntie Ilya. “Besides, Sister Ilya is very busy. She doesn’t have time to take in a disciple.”

Auntie Ilya narrowed her eyes at me and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She looked me up and down as if she were seeing me for the first time. “This might actually be beneficial…,” she muttered and squinted at the letter on the table. She looked me in the eyes. “Are you sure you want to be my disciple?”

“Sister Ilya?” my mommy asked and tugged on Auntie Ilya’s arm. “What are you thinking? Do you really think Lucia will let you become Sophia’s master?”

“She’s not exactly here to stop me, is she?” Auntie Ilya raised an eyebrow and smile at my mommy. “Don’t worry. I don’t plan on accepting Sophia as my disciple right away, and who knows, this could just be one of her phases.” Auntie Ilya patted my head. “If you want to be my disciple, you’ll have to undergo a few trials. Think you’re up to the challenge?”

Um, I don’t really like challenges. Easy tasks are much more enjoyable. Some people like Ri really like challenges, but I don’t know why she likes pushing herself so much. Challenges are painful and sweaty and make me tired. “Can the challenge be eating Mommy’s cooking? I’m good at that, and it’ll be fun.”

Auntie Ilya placed her hand on my mommy’s shoulder. “See?” she asked. “It looks like you don’t have anything to worry about. Sophia would much rather live a life of luxury than struggle and make her mom proud the next time she sees her.”

Um? If I complete challenges, my mommy will be proud of me? I think she will! She’s always proud of me no matter what I do, but she’ll be extra proud if I can impress her when she comes home to see me! “Challenge me! I want to be your disciple, Auntie Ilya!”