Quinn
Back at the cottage, Liam was still looking at me like I have horns on my head while Maria and Elizabeth continued to weep. I couldn't blame them. Quinn, or rather me, was being sacrificed as a bride to a lord who was rumored to be a monster and had murdered his last wife, after all, not that I believed in that bullshit one bit. Maybe there was some truth to it, but I wasn't going to judge my future husband's character without meeting and knowing him first.
Wait! Future husband? What was I even thinking? Sure, I was going to marry him, but the moment I found out he was indeed that horrible person and started abusing me, I won't be willy-nilly enduring it. I already had plans of escape.
I'd divorce him and disappear to live my own life wherever my heart desired. I'd even cross over to other countries. With my magic, it wouldn't be hard.
Okay, I thought, I had better stop thinking so far ahead. Right now, I needed to deal with this, the Fairchilds.
It looked like I'd have to come clean before the bond between us got too deep and I ended up hurting them due to my rash decisions and actions. I knew what I had done earlier had probably aged them ten years, if I hadn't already given them heart palpitations.
I leaned toward Elizabeth and said, "Please stop crying." I placed my hands on her cheeks and then whispered, "Heal."
A glow of mana flowed from my palms and radiated to Elizabeth's skin, and she widened her eyes as the magic did its work. As I healed, I could feel both Liam's and Maria's eyes on me and my magic, and Maria uttered, "Oh my heavens! Quinn, you're..."
"I'm healing Mother," I said. "Or rather... Elizabeth..."
Bruise and cuts disappeared, and the swell reduced until Elizabeth's face was normal once again. When I moved my hands back, Elizabeth's eyes were on me. I could see the shock and confusion in her gaze, and I knew it had to be now.
I said, "I'm not Quinn Fairchild and I've been blessed."
There was silence, and three pairs of eyes simply stared at me as if I had now grown a pair of demons' wings on my back.
I continued. "I'm not sure how it happened, but I'm from another world. I was... struck down by a truck and found myself here, in Quinn's body two weeks ago." I sighed, could see that Elizabeth was about to bawl her eyes out again. Tears were brewing in her eyes and her lips were quivering with emotions.
"I'm sorry. I..." I sighed again. "Since I'm not Quinn Fairchild, I think it's best we part ways. I'm sorry that Quinn died. I'm sorry, or not so sorry, that I took her place. But I do think it's best we part ways since we have nothing to do with each other. Now that you are no longer bound to Lord Bedford and are free of debts, you can go and do whatever your hearts desire."
I didn't want to drag them with me to Norsewood since according to rumors, it was a godforsaken land, and not especially when it was with Lord Norsewood himself. I'd be putting their lives in danger and...
Damn, I didn't know. I just didn't want them to feel like they were being pressured into coming with me to a far-off place they didn't want to be.
I stood then, and I was about to turn and leave, to where I had no idea yet, when Elizabeth suddenly, shakily wrapped her arms around my waist and pulled me to her. She buried her face against my middle, which surprised the bejesus out of me, and said, "I know. I know you're not my Quinn, but you're still my Quinn. I'm still your mother." She moved back and raised her eyes to look at me.
"I've known since that day you woke up. Quinn... she already died. She breathed her last breath, and I was devastated. I lost the other half of my soul that day. I was empty. I was just a shell. I couldn't bear it, couldn't tell anyone that Quinn died, so I went out and just walked. When I returned, you woke up and I was... overjoyed. I know you're not my Quinn, but Iella, the Goddess of Life, gave me a second chance and I feel whole again."
She tightened her arms around me and smiled, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I'm no longer empty, Quinn. You're my daughter no matter who you are. You said so yourself, didn't you? That I'm your mother and you don't want to lose me. You said that if you leave, we all leave, that you won't be leaving me or Liam or Maria behind."
I widened my eyes. Obviously, I did not expect her to use my own words against me. Despite that, deep down, her words made me feel a sense of being wanted and cherished, which was nice.
Sobbing loudly, Maria stood and came to hug me from behind. "I love you, Quinn, and it doesn't matter who you are inside. I think it's a miracle that you came. I love my baby cousin Quinn and it's sad that she's... gone because of me, because of that day..." She hiccupped. "The Goddess Iella is giving us another chance and you, Quinn, came into our lives. I know it hasn't been long on your part, but for us, Quinn is Quinn. Don't say we have nothing to do with each other like we're strangers. It hurts."
Liam, his face hard, came and wrapped his arms around both me and Maria. He planted his lips on my head. "Quinn, don't leave us. We're in this together. I'm not about to let you go to Norsewood alone. We're family."
Maria nodded furiously.
I took in a deep breath. I couldn't believe how the whole situation had turned out. I wanted them to live their own lives freely with no worries, and here they chose to follow me into the unknown.
Maria snuggled her face against my nape and asked, "What about you, Quinn? Do you love us, too?"
Was it just me or did she sound a little desperate?
I chuckled and said, "I do. I lost my family when I was sixteen, so having a new family now is nice."
Liam finally moved back, and Maria did as well. We took a seat around the table, and despite the fact I wasn't going to run off anywhere, both Elizabeth and Maria wouldn't let go of my hands.
Liam, sitting opposite me, asked, "You lost your parents when you were sixteen. That was two years ago. You must still mourn their death."
I said, "Actually, that was nine years ago. I was twenty-five in my previous life."
Maria dropped her mouth open. "Twenty-five? Five years older than me? You're older than Liam."
I nodded. "Mm-hmm."
Stroking my hand, Elizabeth said, "Tell us about your life where you came from. Was it... very different from this one?"
I nodded; I couldn't believe they took all this so calmly. I mean, I was a girl from another world and had incarnated into their loved one's body. Was it normal to not question the validity or logic of how things worked in this world? Then again, there was magic and monsters, so any sort of logic that was normal back on Earth would be different here. I should just take it for granted that anything that was abnormal was normal here, and miracles did happen.
I said, "Yes, very different. My name was Quinn Chen. My father was a Chinese American and my mother was an American woman with ancestors from Europe—the Netherland, Swedish, Irish, and Scottish, and there was a bit of Spanish in there as well. My childhood was delightful. My parents took me traveling a lot, to China, Dad's ancestors' homeland, to the Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Scotland, and Spain, obviously because it was Mom's ancestors' homelands, but also to other countries, too, like Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, France, Germany, Italy, England, and more."
Maria said, "Your family must be very wealthy. Were your family of noble bloodline?"
I shook my head, chuckling softly. "No, where I was from, we're just middle class, or maybe slightly upper-middle class. Both Mom and Dad worked in a highly professional field. They both were professors at a university."
Elizabeth asked, "Did you plan to become a professor like your parents?"
I shook my head. "No, but I've always wanted to be a scientist and work in a medical research field." I chuckled sadly. "I did get a job and was supposed to start, but, well, I died and found myself here instead."
"I'm sorry," Maria said.
"There's nothing to be sorry about," I said. "I'm here and I've been blessed. It's just everything here is so different."
"In your world, Quinn," Liam asked. "Are there nobles like Lord Bedford and his lot and commoners like us?"
I thought about this for a moment and then said, "During my current era, which is the twenty-first century, nobles still exist in a few nations, but they have no direct power or influence on the state of the country. In my country, we have a president and the government who runs the nation. There is no king."
Liam looked a bit dazed. "I can't quite get my head around that. How does a country not have a king?"
I chuckled and said, "You're asking the wrong person. That sort of thing is not my forte. I'm more of a science nerd girl." Suddenly, something clicked, and I gasped. "Speaking of which, I've been meaning to do this anyway so let's do it now. The sooner, the better."
"What is it?" Elizabeth asked.
"Remember I said I'm a scientist from my previous life?"
All three nodded, though I doubted they understood what a scientist was.
"Well, apparently, I've been blessed not only with the healing, but the creation magic, too. With that, I can create anything I could think of, including medicine."
"Creation magic?" Maria asked.
Liam said, "Creation magic is simply a category of magic, Quinn. There's no creation magic per se."
I tilted my head to one side. "I know that, but from Quinn's memory..."
Liam shook his head. "I know Quinn spent a lot of her spare time reading those books about magic and its theory, but she doesn't understand the language well. Words written in the magic theory books are complex, since they are translated from ancient texts, so it's easily confused."
"Oh, I see," I said, dumbfounded. Then what the heck was my magic?
Whatever it was, I'd research it later. Now, it was all about making the Fairchilds healthy.
I said, "I know it's getting late, but let me do a health check on you all before we retire for the night."
"What's a health check?" Maria asked.
"It's to see what your body is lacking," I said.
Liam said, "I don't think we're lacking in anything."
I smiled. "Really now."
Just you wait and see, I thought.
I raised my hand and summoned my analyzer and pharmaceutical magic circle. Elizabeth, Liam, and Maria stared at it, mesmerized at the sight.
"I can't believe I'm really seeing this before my eyes," Elizabeth said. "You are truly blessed."
I said, "Please keep this a secret. I know those blessed meant to be reported to the kingdom and work under the royal family, but I have no desire in doing that."
Elizabeth said, "Your secret is safe with us, Quinn."
Since there were three people, I'd prefer not to use a knife, hence, I decided why not? I summoned another magic circle and created a pack of alcohol swabs and a finger-prick pen. Unlike the ones back home, this pen already had needles primed and ready to go, magically, of course.
I turned to Elizabeth and decided to start with her first. "Do you want me to check your health, Elizabeth?"
She looked at me for a moment, hard, and I thought she was going to refuse when she said, "Mother. Not Elizabeth. Call me Mother like you used to."
I widened my eyes, hadn't realized I had unconsciously referred to her as Elizabeth instead of Mother. I said, smiling, "Then Mother it is."
She gave me a gentle smile and said, "Of course, I'd want you to check my health."
I took her hand while both Liam and Maria leaned in closer to look. First, I wiped Elizabeth's finger with the alcohol swab, and while I was doing this, Maria said, "It smells a little like ale."
"It's alcohol," I said. "Ale is an alcoholic beverage, so technically speaking, you can use ale or wine to sterilize skin or wounds."
After cleaning Elizabeth's skin, I grabbed the finger-prick pen and said, "Just a little jab," and then I pushed the button.
The needle pricked into Elizabeth's skin, and I pulled it back. A dot of blood gathered, and I moved her hand to hover over the magic circle. There, with all eyes glued on the scene, the blood dropped into the magic circle. Instantly, the signs, symbols, and scripts turned, and the magic circle glowed. Within a few seconds, a screen appeared, and the results were shown.
"I can't read any of it," Maria said.
"It's written in English, the language I used to speak where I came from," I said.
"It looks like divine language," Maria said.
Divine language? She probably just meant it looked alienated and different from the common written language in this world.
I scrolled through the results and read the diagnoses, which was similar to what I had, or rather Quinn's body had, and it didn't surprise me. Within moments, seven pills materialized with the words on the screen stating: Personalized pills – take one daily for seven days until levels return to normal.
I gathered the pills and said, "These are your medicine. It appears your body lacks quite a few nutrients, which explains why you're always tired and unwell."
Elizabeth put her hands out, and I dropped the pills in her palms. She said, "I didn't realize. If the Goddess Adona's magic circle says so..."
I tilted my head to one side. "Goddess Adona? Who is she?"
Maria said, "Adona, the Goddess of Light, blesses healing magic."
"Ah, I see," I said. But was my pharmaceutical magic circle part of the healing magic? I had thought not, and now, I certainly didn't know, not especially when I realized Quinn's knowledge of magic wasn't one hundred percent accurate.
"Please take one pill now, and don't forget to take it at the same time every day until you've completed the course," I said.
Elizabeth nodded. She eagerly popped one into her mouth and then took a sip of tea.
"My turn," Maria said eagerly, and I chuckled.