“Sometimes life felt like it would be much easier if one never had to worry about another person, but then came the question: Is such a life truly considered living?” - Abudense Oglavi, Philosopher from Posuin, circa 201 VA.

“Do you think she’ll be all right?” Aideen asked with some evident worry in her voice.

“Celia’s in good hands,” assured Mimia with a nod. “I daresay that no other place in the world had delved into the mysteries of the soul as much as we had here in the Lichdom, nor employed soulweavers on a large scale in related fields. Those seeing to Celia now are experienced professionals, so have some confidence in them. One of them was even one of the first, from Ariadne’s time.”

“That’s a nice reassurance, at least,” admitted Aideen as she gave a sigh and shook her head. She knew that she was probably worrying needlessly, but she couldn’t help it as she had grown to care for the younger unliving woman after the decades they spent together. “I guess some parts of me are acting up like overprotective hens worried about their chick, heh. A risk that would always be there when you start caring for others, I guess.”

“I know the feeling, Aunt Aideen,” said Mimia. She had always called Aideen “Aunt” ever since she had gotten together with Èirynn, despite their minimal age difference. The two always had that sort of solidarity as a couple since long ago. “Did you know, I had never thought of having children at first, but when Èir wanted some, I couldn’t help but be carried along with the flow.”

“I don’t see you regretting it, though?”

“Oh yeah, I regret nothing,” replied Mimia with a smile on her face. “Little Áine’s like the most lovable, well-behaved kid I’ve seen in my long life. She’s honestly such a dear, which sometimes makes me feel sorry for Èirynn since she got saddled with that little hellion Eilonwy,” she added with a chuckle. “But then again, Eilonwy is just a case of the apple not falling far from the tree, ain’t she?”

“Heh, she sure is,” snorted Aideen in amusement as she thought of Èirynn’s younger days. While the girl was easy to keep occupied once she awakened her magic and delved into necromancy, when she was younger she was most curious about everything and could barely stay still at times. “Èirynn herself was little better as a kid, so it’s just retribution that she gets to feel what her parents felt back then.”

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“Makes me glad I was always a well-behaved kid when I was younger!” quipped Mimia as she joined Aideen in laughter.

“Right, your kids are seven now, did you have their affinities checked already? Their awakening period too?” asked Aideen all of a sudden as the thought came to her mind. A child’s first awakening to their magic was often somewhat troublesome, especially if they had some of the more volatile affinities, the experience even ranging to traumatic for an unlucky few.

“Of course, we kept them checked every month for that, just in case,” replied Mimia with a reassuring nod. “As best as they could tell, the kids should awaken to their magic sometime next year, probably in the later half of the year or so. Eilonwy inherited Èirynn’s Death affinity, while Rhys had Life from his father. My little Áine is of the Mortality affinity, though we’re not certain which affinity she leaned more to.”

“Got to keep an extra careful eye on Eilonwy then,” noted Aideen. Death affinity was one of the more volatile affinities, as many of its manifestations can easily cause harm to living things unless well controlled. A child who awakened it for the first time would naturally lack the knowledge and means to properly control it, however, hence necessitating some help and guidance to get through their awakening safely.

Fortunately, they were in the Lichdom of Ptolodecca, where experts of the Death affinity were a copper a dozen. It would be easy enough to find some help to make sure that Eilonwy went through her awakening unharmed, at the very least. As for the other two, Aideen was less worried, as neither Mortality nor Life would harm its wielder during an awakening. At least she had never heard of any such case in her centuries of existence so far.

“That’s the plan, yeah,” nodded Mimia in reply. She did not seem that worried, though, which was not strange given her official position as one of the Bone Lord’s own direct disciples. With that position Mimia could have demanded just about anything in the Lichdom and her demands would be fulfilled in haste by anyone. Finding helpers to take care of her stepdaughter’s awakening was merely a minor issue, as all she had to do was to beckon and volunteers would present themselves as it was.

“You know… I’ve always wondered, but now that you’ve had a child… do you feel like having more?” Aideen asked rather wistfully. Having children of her own was something that she could never have due to the circumstances around her, so she couldn’t help but wonder, now that people close to her had children of their own.

“Being honest, aunt? I would if Èirynn felt like having more kids, but on my own… not really,” admitted Mimia bluntly. “I think Èirynn was also partly thinking about continuing her parents’ bloodline by having children, since her late cousin Maebh had so many descendants by now,” she added. Maebh’s descendants had indeed proliferated greatly, with one still serving as the Mayor of Vitalica at the present day. “You know how people so often claim that pregnancy and childbirth are miracles of life? I can’t say I agree with that.”

“Oh? How do you view it then?” asked Aideen with actual curiosity in her voice.

“If anything, I would say it’s more like… a relief of finally being done with the burden you’ve been saddled with for months,” said Mimia openly. “Now, I’m not saying that’s the case for everyone. Some people might actually enjoy the process and truly feel like it was miraculous, but at least for me, I don’t feel that to be the case.”

“How do you feel about it then?”

“More like finally being able to go to the bathroom after being constipated for months on end.”