The Story of Kairi Part 1

I rested my chin in the palm of my hand as I read the book I had grabbed out of my father's shop that morning. It was a fascinating tale about a witch who had fallen in love with a prince, but he didn't return her affection so she crafted a love potion to make him fall in love her. She hired a pageboy to be her assistant, and it was clear to see that the sorceress and her assistant would eventually end up together.

I breathed out a content sigh. Nothing was more magical than love.

"What're you doing, Novella? Reading one of your stupid fairy tales again?" Marco, my younger half-brother, teased me in his whining voice as he came bounding down the stairs. "Why do you read those anyway? Can't get a love life of your own to experience?"

I groaned and tightened the grip on my book, pulling it up to hide my face. If I pretended he wasn't here, maybe he would leave me alone. "Go away, Marco. Don't you have chores to do?"

"Don't you?" Marco put his olive-skinned hands on his hips and matched my attitude with his own. "Or have you been wasting time by reading your little make-believe stories?"

"I got my chores done this morning. I'm done for the day." I stuck my tongue out at Marco. "Maybe if you didn't sleep in until the middle of the day, you could have free time too. Who knows, maybe you could even learn to read."

Marco tugged on his messy black hair and sneered at me. "Shouldn't you be married by now? What's the matter? No men want you? I don't know why anyone would. It's not like you're pretty."

"Marco, leave me alone, and stop being such an asino!" I threw my book at Marco in frustration. I didn't need him to remind me of my lack of a love life. I was reminded of that every day I saw a couple walking down the street.

The book soared over his head and collided with the wall behind him, but from the wail he let out, someone would've thought I'd hit him in the face. "Mamma! Novella called me an asino! And she hit me!" Marco continued his fake bawling until his mother ran into the living room to help him.

I rolled her eyes and slumped down into the loveseat. Great, here comes Sarah to soothe Marco and tell me why this is all my fault. "Tattle-tale," I grumbled under my breath. "Why are you always such a cry baby?"

"Novella!" Sarah, my step-mother, scolded me as she bustled into the room to console her sobbing baby boy. "How dare you do that to your brother? He's only seven. You shouldn't be using those words around him." With Sarah's attention on me, Marco paused his fake crying and stuck his tongue out at me over her shoulder. He quickly resumed his tears when Sarah turned back around. "Honestly, Novella. I don't know how you expect to find a husband with that attitude of yours. Ever since you got back from China with your father, you have been insufferable."

I chose to ignore my step-mother and instead rose to pick up my book. My long white-blonde hair swayed behind me as I moved and pushed past Marco and Sarah.

"And that hair of yours," Sarah complained to me as she checked Marco for injuries. "I wish you'd let me cut it or at least braid it. None of the other girls wear their hair that way." Sarah's own black hair was braided into a crown around her head, similar to how most girls were wearing it these days.

"Then it will make me stand out to the men," I responded simply and picked my book up off the floor. I started to head upstairs. Maybe I could get some privacy in my bedroom and finish my book in peace.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sarah stopped me as soon as I put my foot on the first step. "Don't think I'm letting you walk away from this without punishment. Go out and see if you're father needs help in the shop. I'm sure he can find something for you to do."

I wanted to argue, but I knew it wouldn't get me anywhere except in more trouble. "Yes, Sarah." Begrudgingly, I headed into my father's book store.

My father, William, was standing behind the main counter with several stacks of books in front of him. He wrote something down on a piece of paper and slid one of the stacks of books away. He looked up as I reached him. He gave me a puzzled expression, noticing my sour face. "Novella? I thought you were done with your chores for the day. What are you doing out here? Finish that book already?"

I shook my head. "I yelled at Marco, and Sarah sent me out here to find a chore to do as punishment. Do I really have to do something, papà? I promise Marco deserved it."

"You said that last time Sarah sent you out here for fighting with him." My father gave me a knowing smile.

"Well he deserves it every time." I crossed her arms in determination. Marco was such a brat. Why didn't he ever get in trouble? "He's the one who should be punished, not me. He was taunting me again, but according to Sarah it's never his fault. I'm the only one to blame."

"Be patient with your brother. He is young and is still learning. You, on the other hand, are smart. Be wise next time and walk away from the fight before it begins. It'll save you a lot of trouble." He gestured to the stack of books he had just pushed away. "Why don't you reshelf those for me? That isn't too much of a punishment, is it?"

I pouted, but grabbed the books anyway and went to put them away like my father had asked. I glanced at their titles. They were all books I had read before. I knew exactly where they went on the shelves. I bent down to slide the first few into their homes.

A chill ran down my spine without warning and the world suddenly blurred around me. I leaned onto the bookshelf for support to wait for it to pass. That was odd. Was I getting sick? A pounding headache rose up in my head. The rest of the books fell out of my arms and crashed onto the floor. A moan escaped my lips, and I stumbled to my knees. What was wrong with me? I never got sick like this.

Apparently, my father had heard the commotion because he abruptly appeared before me to help me stand up. His face was etched with worry. "Novella? Look at me. Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"I don't- I don't know." I gladly rested on my dad for support. "My head hurts, and I can't see well."

The last thing I saw was my father's concerned brown eyes looking down on me. Then everything went black.

When I woke again it took me a few minutes to take in my surroundings and figure out where I was. Walls painted by dull colours surrounded me on all sides and simple wooden furniture filled the room. Eventually, I realized that I was alone in my bedroom. My father must have carried me up here and set me down in my bed after I passed out. My thin, red sheets were damp with sweat.

I could hear murmured voices from the other side of the door. I wanted to get up to see who the voices belonged to and what they were talking about, but the moment I tried to sit up, the world spun around me again. Right away, I knew this wasn't a normal sickness.

At least I'll get out of chores for a while. The happy image of Marco having to do all my chores until I got better made me smile. The little brat deserved it. He never had to do any of the hard jobs around here. All he was ever assigned to do was sweep while I got stuck with lugging heavy boxes of books around and cooking with Sarah almost every night.

My thoughts were interrupted as my bedroom door creaked open and my father stuck his head in. I perked up and grinned, and he smiled at me daughter in return, but his eyes held a deep depression to them. "Ciao, Novella. Are you feeling any better? You've been out for quite some time."

I shrugged. Was I feeling better? My headache had faded, and my vision wasn't blurry anymore, but something felt off. I had a soreness that throbbed throughout my whole body. I felt particularly tender under my armpits. That definitely wasn't normal.

"Has the medico said anything?" I forced herself to sit up in bed, despite my protesting muscles.

There was a worrying pause before my father responded. "Yes..." He entered my room, followed by a tall man with sandy brown hair wearing a floor-length, dark purple robe. I recognized him immediately as Ischia's physician. He was the only doctor on the entire island so most of its citizens knew him well.

I bowed my head to him in respect. "Buon pomeriggio, doctor. I hope you are well."

The doctor nodded at me in response and offered me a sympathetic smile. "Grazi. Yes, but I'm afraid I cannot say the same for you, Novella." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "After a thorough analysis, I was not able to identify your illness. It is nothing I have seen before. There are rumours of a new disease emerging to the east, and your father tells me you have just returned from China, but I do not know enough about it to administer a proper cure. I suggest applying poultices made of butter, onion, and garlic to the open sores, though I don't know if it will do much."

Open sores? I scanned herself to find out what the doctor was talking about. I yelped when I looked at her arms and saw three black open wounds leaking puss. My stomach churned, and I covered my mouth to keep herself from vomiting. I took in a shaky breath to calm myself. "But I'm going to get better, right? This disease isn't deadly, is it?"

The doctor raised one shoulder in a half shrug, which didn't soothe my fears one bit. "I haven't heard of anyone dying from it yet. Though as I've said, it is relatively new."

I buried my face in my hands. How did I even get this disease? I'd stayed by my father's side the entire trip. I didn't 'mingle' with any locals or eat or drink any questionable foods or drinks. I quickly thought through every detail of the trip, trying to figure out how I could have gotten sick.

A fleeting image of a defenseless calico kitten flashed before my eyes. I inwardly groaned. Why did I have to save that stupid cat? It probably had hundreds of diseases. But I knew I couldn't just leave it to die. It was stuck in the middle of the road and would have been run over if it weren't for me. The kitten had probably died already anyway, and now I could be next.

"I will be here every day to check on you and to provide any new remedies that I can think of. For now, stick with the poultices and remain in bed for the rest of the week. I prepared some poultices already and left them downstairs. I wish there was more I could do, but for now this will have to work." The medic nodded to my father before leaving the room.

I nervously tugged on my hair, the long blonde strands falling over my shoulders. My father stared at me with pitying eyes. I couldn't help but notice that he was keeping his distance. The fact hurt. I wanted to be held by my father more than ever now.

"I'll bring the poultices up." My father quickly left the room.

I sighed. The doctor said no one had died from this disease, so that meant I would make a full recovery. It would just take a while to get there.

I wrung her hands, careful to avoid looking at the festering wounds. I began to wonder how bad it would get before it got better. I stared at a spot in my floor where the floorboards were loose and my mother's diary was hidden underneath. Reading that always made me feel better, but I knew if I tried to get up now, I would probably feint again. I couldn't ask my father to grab it for me either. If he knew I had it, he would take it away, and I would never see it again. It was all I had left of her. I couldn't risk losing it.

I reluctantly slid back down into my bed. The doctor said that in order for me to get better, I needed to rest. So rest I would.

A/N - So I may alternate back and forth between The Untold Stories and Dead Debts for a bit, just because I tend to write more for one during the week and I want to keep weekly updates. And since this sort of coincides with Dead Debts, I decided to do a Kairi prequel. Let me know what you think! Maybe I'll give all my OCs prequel stories eventually. Thanks for reading and don't forget to review!