Chapter 2: Ancient Relic
Ned watched his 'daughter' tilt her head in question. She sounds so normal but if you look closely you can see the cold sweat falling fron her forehead. She is in extreme pain but she is holding on. Just what has she been through to have such tolerance?
Has she really suffered so much under his own watch? People he trusted warned him about Southerners and their beliefs about bastard children. He was a fool to think she would eventually soften her motherly heart.
But it ends here and now. From now on he will make sure she doesn't suffer from his wife anymore. Remembering her question he answered. "I will have time to check up on your condition."
"You really don't have to do that. All I need is maester Luwin and a lot of pain medication, you are not necessary, needed or wanted. Why don't you go back to your wife before she sneaks into my quarters to finish the job blaming me for your neglect?" She said to him with a sneer.
Robert looks petrified to hear someone talking to his father that way. "How can you speak to your lord and father that way? You need to apologize this instant!"
Olivia looked at Robert and then turned to Ned Stark with a lowered head. "My lord, please forgive my rudeness the pain is simply too much and the idea of running into your wife fills me with dread. Please show mercy and let me off." She lowerd her head and didn't raise it.
The others are stunned she really took the advice of another child. They looked and saw the same surprise on Ned Stark's face. He is stunned for a few moments which caused Olivia to be stuck in that position until he cleared his throat.
"It is alright but that better be the last time. You may raise your head." He said wanting to see the expression on her eyes. He is disappointed to see the stoic expression she usually has on.
"You may take her to the place she wants to live in. Bring fresh blankets and clean clothes. She should be asigned two maids until she recovers." Ned quickly left the room.
Olivia is taken to the room after it was cleaned out even a new bed was brought in. She felt like the bed is the clouds compared to what she had been sleeping in before. She had apologized before in front of those people because she realized that her cheap father may be her only ally at the moment.
She doesn't want to make him angry and lose his support. But she will not give him face in private. She fell asleep remembering that she had an innate talent for shaping and seeing the true value of plants before.
Her alchemist prospects were very low but her master still accepted her because he believed she will be invaluable when finding special herbs but her inability to reach nascent soul shortly made the master disappointed in her.
She was not able to get a slot in the team to explore any of the most valuable pockets dimensions with spirit herbs of high enough level to affect her master's cultivation. So she became a discarded tool.
Oliva spend the next week taking care of her wounds and drinking the terrible pain medication they call the poppy milk. She can make several better pain killers even with the medieval plants of this world but she can not move and risk tearing her wounds.
So she read books and stayed in bed. A while after she moved into this place Ned sent two Northern girls to take care of her. She learned they were brought from outside. If seems her cheap father is not a complete buffoon after all.
One girl is called Faith while the other is called Anna. Faith has pale skin, her red hair looks unkept and she has a chubby face. In her mind she nicknamed her chubby Faith.
Anna has a pair of shrewd brown eyes an long black hair. She is no beauty with a long face and slightly sunken cheekbones and bad teeth.
Anna is hoping to make enough money to save her brother who has a frail body and a pair of weak parents. Apparently all her money will go to her parents and brother. Even though she does all this, Faith says her family doesn't treat her any better than a servant.
On the other hand chubby Faith is an orphan and just wants to get a good husband and enough money to feed her family.
It occurred to Olivia this world teach that girls are only good for giving birth and men should serve or be served. At ten years old and she already despises this place. Remembering her own memories of listening in on lady Caitlyn's teaching for her children, she feels repulsed that she actually felt jealous of them.
Weeks passed by quickly and soon she can fully move around the room, she opened the window, a single leaf flew into her hair blown by the chilly winds of the North. She found it and a distant memory hit her in a flashback making her stumble. In the memory she had agreed to go on a dangerous expedition to try and get a chance encounter.
The team mates used her as a trap tester when they arrived in the ancient ruins. She saw an interesting book lavitating in the middle of a room and reached for it. As an alchemist she couldn't hold back her curiosity.
The moment she touched it, the book turned illusory and disappeared. At the same time a giant earth pike fell from above her killing her in one attack. She got pierced from the skull down turning her body into a mess.
Olivia grimaced thinking about it now. She died and woke up feeling out of sorts for several long months she couldn't move, talk or see.
When she finally got her memories it was after she was beaten to a pulp by the men working for Lady Caitlyn Tully days ago.
She could tell the air has a peculiar set of energies but spirit power which she cultivated in her previous life is not abundant even though it exists. Oliva discovered that when she touched the book it merged with her soul becoming a soul companion for her.
A translucent page appeared showing the name of the leaf and what it can be use for and lastly there is a clearly detailed recipe on how to make medicine out of it.
Olivia first thought she was hallucinating but when she was able to walk on her own she kept getting the same translucent page explaining the process of concoction using each herb she picked up.
The failed expedition didn't fail at all. She was aware her group was using her as bate but she was the one with most to lose so she accepted it. But they would probably cry blood tears if they found out the relic they had gone there for was taken by her to her next life right?
"Hahaha..." She couldn't contain her happiness and exploded in a happy laugh. After her fith birthday this is the first good thing to happen to her. This is genuinely good news.
"Umm.."
Olivia turned to the door and saw Chubby Faith standing there with a pair of jelly legs. The sudden laughter from a perpetually stoic person must be frightening. "Faith." She called out.
Instead of responding, the girl fell on the floor with a dud sound. Olivia silently ignored her.
"The lady gave birth to a healthy baby girl." Faith reported. Olivia had told them to report any interesting news from the outside since she is stuck inside these days.
"Mm.." Olivia acknowledged the news but she didn't say anything about it.
"It's time for a bath." Olivia washed herself and decided to go out today because the whole castle will be busy with the news of a new born.
Wanting to see if this frozen place has anything of value. She walked in the direction of the gods wood. After admiring the beauty of the place, she eyes sparkled at the sight of so many precious herbs.
He ability to see the actual value of a plant combined with the formula she gets after touching the herbs will make her the greatest alchemist of all time.
Her plant ability allows her to change and shape wood. She can use trees to see an area around a tree, it's like she is possessing a tree and can see, hear all that is happening around the tree.
The journey seems to have exhausted her frail body so she takes a seat on a nearby stone. Unexpectedly a large page came out and the stone can be melted and mixed with ash from the purple leaves of the of a neaby alklan tree.
This solution can be turned into Unbreakable glass. It seems her relic is more valuable than she ha anticipated. If a different colored alklan tree is used, even colorless indestructible glass can be made.
"It's like getting a pillow afer feeling sleepy." She studied the stone to make sure she remembers it.
There are other resources that can be mixed in with this stone to make different types of glasses. Her favorite types so far are the two, indestructible glass and cold glass.
First she needs to find medicine to heal her wounds and strengthen her body. Previously she had killed those two people but it was only because she surprised them otherwise she would have been able to defend herself afterwards when he was being beaten by the Tully guards.
She is lucky and a few herbs that can heal the body to optimal condition are all over the place in the gods wood.
Olivia survived in the murim world by keeping her head down and minding her own business. Never challenging the strongest but always seek her happiness. Here, people are just normal strong which means she is safe to show her temper.
Her step mother likes praying to a faith called 'The Seven' and she is a fanatic follower of the seven which teaches her hate towards bastard children like herself. To this, Olivia always laughs at her. Especially since the North has its own religin called 'The old gods.'
Olivia now at 9 looks more like a Stark than any of the stark children except Arya who was just born. Olivia always hopes the woman would just succumb to illness and die after one of her deliveries but the bitch remains strong as ever.
She was an orphan in her last life after her brother died in a fight between two powerhouses as collateral. She remained alone for centuries so she doesn't know how to be a family member especially to a bunch of children who are taught to hate her from birth.
Even though she had junior sisters and brothers it was all meaningless once they became more powerful than her. They would only call her 'senior sister' in ridicule. These people are also the group who used her as bate causing her death.
Olivia knows how to navigate the world alone. She certainly doesn't need an ignorant father and a vicious stepmother. This world is refreshingly virgin with everything at the hands of the few while the majority suffers. Which brings opportunity to a seasoned alchemist like her.
That evening the two clueless maids watched their master boil a mixture of herbs Taking them out and boiling another mixture, using tea spoons to mix the resulting solution in a cup then adding boiled water and another solution. When she finished the first cup her forehead is full of sweat.
The level of concentration she had employed a while ago had been taxing on her young mind and body. She waited until the solution turned color according to the manual and then drank it all in one go.
"Use clean cloths to cover these and store them here well." She instructed the girls and without waiting for a response she dragged her body toward the bed and slept soundly.
In the morning she heard a sobbing sound irritating her to no end, she tried to ignore it but it became more and more clear. "We just walked in when that awful smell hit both of us mi lord. We immediately called for the maester."
The maester opened the blanket and found the sheets stuck on the young lady's body. She tried to open her eyes but it felt very hard, her mouth felt dry too. She laid there with no way of resisting.
Another voice spoke. "Maester Luwin what is happening to her?"
"I don't know she was healing well now it seems all her wounds have opened and began festering. I have never seen so much pus in one body. Its as if her body became engulfed by boils over night. Why are they on her face?" The old man sounded very surprised but also excited as if he has found a new toy.
Olivia heard their conversation and became frightened immediately. It said the solution will remove all impure bodies over night through the skin but she never thought it would be so vivid. She doesn't want to be a hideous monster. She felt desperate and wanted to cry but she felt dehydrated to the extreme.
"Is there something you can do Maester to save her?" Her father asked the old man. There is silence following the question.
Olivia is very regretful now, she shouldn't have rushed to drink that potion she should have tested it first but she got desperate for fast recovery. This is one hell of a mess.
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