As troublesome as the possibility of the world ending in 13-15 years, there was something more urgent gnawing at his thoughts. His mother didn't appear in the game at all, besides a passing mention of Alfonse resembling her.
'With her fragile healthy it isn't difficult to conclude why...'
Of course, all he had was conjunctures based on the fact that the game didn't mention her and her actual state of health. One could argue that if she was dead then the game would have mentioned it at some point.
'It seems I will have a new thing to research.'
With an anxious in his heart, walking quickly he found himself in front of his parent's room, knocking on its doors.
"Mom, are you there? I am coming in!"
Contrary to what he expected the room was mostly empty, except for Elias napping on a bed and Rudolph the Doberman keeping watch, pointy ears perking at the sound of the door opening.
"Over here, sweetie!"
Following the voice to the balcony, he sees his mother seated around a small round table filled with food, reading some papers.
"You look horrible" escaped his lips. Even with makeup, carefully styled hair, and beautiful clothes it couldn't hide the tiredness that seemed to radiate from her.
Lady Florencia for her part just chuckled at her son's words " Yes, I haven't been feeling well... This is why you have to hug me so I can recover my strength!" she said while opening her arms in clear expectation.
Feeling a bit awkward but not wanting to disappoint the women who have been taking care of him for the past seven years Mordred hugged his mom.
' It isn't her fault that her son received an entire life of worth of memories that make normal interactions strange.'
After the hug, he took the opportunity to sit in a nearby chair lest his mom pulls him in her lap. ' Hugging is fine but I still have my boundaries.'
"I am sorry I haven't been able to spend time with you and your brothers," she said, while pouring a cup of tea for them, and putting snacks on the available plates. "But I promise as soon I and Elias get better we will go on a fun family trip, we can even go see the Pegasus Race in Lavera that you wanted."
'Sorry Mother, but I am worried that you are going to die before the game events begin. While 13 years is a great window of time I have no idea if it's today or 10 years.' Yet he couldn't say it, which left the next option.
"It's fine mom, as long you get better I don't mind staying home even if it's for an entire year."
"What considerate child I have, but it's fine Mordred. I will get better soon, you don't have to worry about me."
Perception Roll 1d100: 32 DC25/??/??
It might not have been obvious to a child but it was clear that she was worried. 'The situation might be worse than I thought, shit.' Taking a sip from the tea, Mordred continued 'But it's not like she is going to confess her troubles to her child, better not to press for now.'
"Then I will hold on to that Pegasus Race!"
Smiling Florencia leaned forward offering her pinky finger "It's a promise!"
Having no reason to refuse it Mordred joined his pinky finger to hers "It's a promise then but only when you recover"
'This feels more like a death flag... What I am doing?'
His mother just kept smiling during the exchange unaware of her son's worries. "Great, now finish eating your food."
"Yes, mom but one more thing... Where is Lavera?"
"Ah, you see it's on the west of...."
And in that rhythm, Mordred spent the rest day with his mom and a bit with Elias after he woke up from his nap, the medicine is making him drowsy.
'It is nice having a mother again but I can't help but fear I will soon lose her' He thought while going to bed that night. 'The Goldsteins are rich and we have magic at our disposal curing something shouldn't be a difficulty yet Mother was worried... Is it something incurable or she was worried about something else?'
'Could it be Elias? But in the game, he was fine and healthy... Unless it's a sign that we aren't in a cannon worldline further evidenced by my presence here?'
'The possibilities are endless, did I regain the memories just to suffer from headaches, seriously? There's no way, if I want peace I will have to discover what's going on with mom and Elias'
Horse Riding
1d3- 3
Needing something to help clear his head about yet another batch of bad news, Mordred decided to go horse riding on the Mansion grounds.
'Although horse riding might be a euphemism'
Even in a fantasy world, no one is crazy enough to let a seven-year-old ride a grown horse by themselves. So he ended up with a sweet grey pony called Ashwind and a servant trailing behind on a horse.
'It's not like I can complain about it, and it is nice. Different from taking a cramped subway in the early hours of the morning.'
Riding through the Goldstein state was relaxing and again a bit of an eye-opening experience. 'The size of the Mansion alone is huge but the entire ground adds another layer of absurdity. And to think this isn't even the Goldstein main seat.'
The horseriding area was certainly big given its use, but aside there are still plenty of 'free' areas with nothing but green grass and well-kept trees as far the eye could see. The only real demarcation was the forest line growing along the property, its tall trees extending for miles.
'If the forest isn't part of the property too'
Perception Roll: 57 DC 25/??/??
Looking at the forest line Mordred stopped Ashwind, squinting his eyes 'Isn't that a person?'. A white-robed figure emerged from the forest on the horizon, and it was hard to see more distinguishable features on the person than their clothes.
'Wait a minute did they just wave at me?' Surely enough the person immediately turned their head towards Mordred, waving a hand.
Thinking why not, he waved back and continued on his way or tried to. Ashwind seemed to be stuck, its head blankly staring at the space. "What's up, girl?" Even after trying the commands to get her attention back, the pony remained unresponsive. Cold sweat started to gather in his brows, and a pricking sensation surged in the back of his head.
Once again glancing at the forest line, he saw the stranger still standing idle on the same spot watching him. The pricking sensation deepened and suddenly the surroundings become a tad too quiet.
'Okay, this is starting to get creepy.'
By now the servant that was accompanying him noticed the weird person and dismounted his horse. "Young Master I need you to come with me."
Not one to argue, he agreed and was put on the bigger horse. The moment the servant was ready to mount, Mordred took another look in the stranger's direction but found nothing.
'Did they leave?' he thought but the anxious feeling in his chest only increased.
"Young Master!" a shout was heard beside him. Like an idiot, he turned around to look.
It was a mistake, due to being on a horse Mordred was almost at the same eye level as it.
It appeared human at first sight, wearing a clean white robe with simple clothes underneath. Taking the appearance of a handsome male with pale blond hair, and pale skin with red markings on the face going from the cheeks and all the way to the neck, its eyes betrayed the image.
Bright red eyes stared at him, devoid of malice and clear of intent as an animal, filled with bloodlust and hunger. At the same time, managing conveys its amusement at the sight of Mordred fear, which in turn only made him angry and somehow made the creature more amused, its mouth opening to show rows of sharp teeth.
D100 => 85
D12 => 7
Something in his body just stretched, a cold sensation soon flowed in anticipation, waiting. Pull or Push.
Inwards or Outwards.
Fight or Flight.
But there's only desire in his heart: 'make it hurt'.
D6 => 1
And in answer to his desires, it moved. The nebulous coldness inside his body sharpened horribly. It felt like everything was moving, displaced by this icy feeling, his organs, throat, eyes, and ears.
Unable to see, listen, and feel.
Rippling in pain waves, until it stilled and darkness greeted him.
"No, he is fine. Mars managed to stop Mordred before his magic made further damage... Yes, I sent the poor man compensation for Mars's actions. You think that after all those years he would get better but instead, he only worsens... "
'This voice... I am in the mother's room?' Mordred awoke, sluggish and weak, in a big and soft bed. From the corner of his eye, he could see mother talking with someone using a magic hand mirror in the other part of the room.
Trying to sit up was a hard task, his body didn't want to cooperate, and his limbs were heavy and sore. 'It's almost like I was hit by a truck... What the hell happened? I was horse riding and...'
Eyes widening he shouted "The forest creep!" which turned into a mistake because it soon turned into a coughing fit due to a sore throat. Fortunately, the yell caught Lady Florencia's attention who soon rushed to her son's side with a glass of water, abandoning the hand mirror.
"Sweety you are awake! Are hurt? Do you feel pain anywhere"
"I am fine... Just tired...but what happened?" he said taking sips between the phrases.
At his question, Lady Florencia suddenly awkward, eyes looking at the sides, while her hands sat on her lap.
"Well, Mordred what do you remember?"
" I was out riding then that thing appeared..." Even remembering it made him shudder. "And I felt something and suddenly everything hurt."
"Ah yes, that thing... The Forest Creep...Let's start with him" His mother paused taking his hand in hers. "What if I told you that person was one of mom's childhood friends and everything was a big misunderstanding?"
'Eh?'
Seeing the confusion on his face, she continued. "I know he can appear to be quite eccentric... But you can trust in me he didn't mean you any harm."
His mother was making some serious expression but Mordred didn't quite believe her words.
"Mom, he jumpscared me."
"I know sweety"
"He came out from the freaking forest and just stared at me in a really intense manner."
"I know. Like I said Mars can be... Well depending on what magic one practices it can affect someone in weird ways. Sometimes it translates into a disregard for private property and intense stares."
Digesting his mother's words it took a minute to reply.
"Are you saying that magic can make someone behave like a serial killer?"
Lady Florencia gave a weak laugh in response before answering "Like I said it's complicated but that's not the point I wanted to reach." she took a breath and continued " Even if it was an accident, It is still Mars's fault for scaring you. So you can rest peacefully and know that he won't be stepping inside the Mansion grounds anytime soon."
"I see..." Actually, he didn't, just what sort of magic did someone practices to end up like that? "Wait, a second, if he didn't do anything then how I ended up like this?"
"That's easier to answer, your magic reacted to your distress but such a way of spellcasting can be a bit chaotic and in the end, you hurt yourself. But don't worry, despite his appearance Mars is a skilled healer and fixed you in a second."
Once again confusion marked his features "A healer? That guy?" The part of -That guy with eyes full of bloodlust? - is heavily implied in the credulous stare.
Florencia nodded "I know Mordred, but Mars is indeed a quite skilled one. In fact, he visited just to heal me which is good news! We can on that Pegasus trip as soon Elias gets better."
Taking a moment to look at his mother more closely, Mordred indeed noticed that she seemed more energetic and livelier than before. 'One less thing to worry about I guess.'
" If he is such a great guy why didn't he heal Elias too then?"
Sighing Florencia answered "He could have, but I choose not to. A child's body needs to learn how to fight sickness on its own, healing them with magic would just cripple them"
" I see..."
"Anyway, you have been healed but stills need to rest. So I am afraid you will be stuck in your room for a while."
"That's fine, it's not like I want to go horse riding again... I will probably just read some book instead."
"My my, all of my sons are such bookworms..."
New Information Unlocked:
Mom got sick but got healed. Although she still has a weak body.
Elias can be healed with magic at any moment, they just want him to develop his immune system
Character Unlocked:
Mars ???????: A childhood friend of mom, very eccentric. Scared you with his weird behavior that your magic lashed out. A skilled healer in your mother's words.
Gained Trait:
??????????? Affinity: To be discovered.
So... That happened. Honestly, I didn't expect that to happen. And before any of you ask. No, Mars isn't a fey he is just weird. That meeting could have gone different ways but a combination of your traits and rolls made it a disaster but hey at least mom got healed so that is something.
Harmless info: Mars isnt his actual name but a nickname.
Next stop Books! Also I am still fiding Mordred inner voice, sorry if he seems bland right now.
