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Short filmTranscript
00:00There is a name for people who are reincarnated after death, but keep all the memories of their previous life.
00:06They are called the Awakened.
00:08I knew for sure there was no justice.
00:11No point in trying to be good.
00:14Life is chaotic and cruel.
00:16I firmly believed that until the day I died.
00:19Hello, Lith. I'm your mama.
00:22I wanted to shout back at her.
00:24That's not my name and you're not my mother.
00:26Explain how I got here.
00:28But everything came out as gurgles and cries.
00:31My tongue couldn't form the words I wanted to say.
00:34Of course, I realized it's never been used before.
00:38Instead, I examined the room through my fresh eyes.
00:41Around me was a wooden shack filled with people dressed like peasants from medieval times.
00:47Women in bonnets, men in breeches.
00:49They all cheered and hugged each other as a midwife rubbed my mother's shoulder.
00:54It was scary there for a moment, but I pulled Lith through.
00:58In my mind, I put together the pieces.
01:01This poor baby must have died in childbirth.
01:04And somehow I ended up in his body.
01:07And of course this woman is taking credit for it.
01:09What a con.
01:11A little girl peeked her head out from behind the midwife.
01:15Can I hold him, please?
01:17But the old woman shooed her away.
01:19Let your mother rest, Trista. Go find Orple.
01:23So that's my sister, I thought.
01:26And I assume that angry boy staring at me from the corner is Orple, my brother.
01:31He's obviously not happy to have a new sibling.
01:34Better keep an eye on him.
01:36Once the midwife moved away, my father Raz hurried in to embrace my mother.
01:41I was so worried.
01:42I love you, Alina.
01:44Caught in the middle of their hug, an unfamiliar emotion overcame me.
01:48Is this what it's like to have a real family?
01:51Who love you unconditionally and will do anything to protect you?
01:55Is this what real love feels like?
01:58I couldn't take it any longer.
02:00I vomited all over myself.
02:02The midwife laughed.
02:04Isn't he a little r*****?
02:07Then she spoke a strange word that I'd never heard before.
02:10But it seemed to trigger something within my infant body.
02:14A black light projected from the midwife's fingers onto the blanket.
02:18And the vomit disappeared.
02:20My baby eyes went wide.
02:22This world has magic.
02:24Reincarnation rules.
02:26Immediately, I decided to try for myself.
02:29I concentrated on the place within me that was triggered by the old woman's words.
02:33With my infant tongue, I did my best to repeat the word the midwife had spoken.
02:38I moved closer and gestured with her hand, making the blanket fall back into place.
02:43My father smiled.
02:45Not even a day old and he's already showing signs of magic.
02:48It's a miracle.
02:50But the midwife shushed him.
02:52Quiet.
02:53What we witness cannot leave this room.
02:56You know what can happen to children who show an aptitude for magic too early.
03:01She checked to see who else had noticed.
03:03But I wanted to scream.
03:05No, you old hag.
03:07I don't know what can happen. Tell me.
03:09The midwife seemed satisfied that no one else was aware of what I'd done.
03:14Keep his abilities a secret and keep him away from magic, understand?
03:19My parents nodded.
03:21Thank you, Nan.
03:22I wanted to resist, but my eyelids became extremely heavy.
03:27The last thing I saw before sleep overcame me was orples sneering at me from across the room.
03:33Time passed.
03:34One hot and humid summer day, the family and I worked in the garden behind our home.
03:40At that point, Trista had begun to feel ill.
03:43But we just thought it was a cold.
03:45She was coughing and always cold and tired.
03:48We have to get inside, quickly!
03:50I yelled, and my mother saw in my eyes that I was not fooling.
03:55The day before, neighbors had mentioned to Mother that noble men had heard rumors of a child with magic abilities,
04:02and we're going farm to farm, inquiring and torturing anyone they suspected of harboring such a threat to the crown.
04:10My father squinted at the woods.
04:12I'll handle this, he said.
04:15Get the kids to the hiding spot.
04:17The hiding spot was under the floorboards in the kitchen.
04:21We laid down, shoulder to shoulder, pressed against sawdust and squinting through the slats.
04:27My dad entered the hut.
04:29There was a loud thud, and I saw what caused the noise, landing on Trista's head.
04:35Mother covered my sister's mouth with her hand.
04:38Please, Lord, we don't want any trouble, my dad said.
04:43Raz stood stone-faced.
04:45He shook his head.
04:47No boy here, just me and my wife and daughter Trista.
04:51She's sick, so my wife took her to town.
04:55He pulled the arrow back and aimed it at my father's forehead.
04:58He said three.
04:59He let the arrow fly.
05:01I closed my eyes.
05:02I reached out my hand.
05:04The dark tendrils of energy wrapped around my wrist and traveled up my arms.
05:09Mother stared at me in horror.
05:11Your eyes, Lith.
05:13They're completely black.
05:15She mouthed to me.
05:17I barely saw her because when I entered the realm of dark magic,
05:20I could see the nobleman's arrow speeding through space and time.
05:24Our family would be cast out from the village.
05:26Everyone would suffer.
05:28I caught the arrow with my mind, and I finally felt the darkness leave my body.
05:33Mother clutched Trista tightly, who was sobbing.
05:37Orpal suddenly yanked my collars and slapped me clear across the face.
05:42Lith, what have you done?
05:44He was shaking me violently.
05:46He was going to kill father, I protested.
05:49Now they're going to hunt us down and kill our whole family.
05:53Orpal was shaking in fear.
05:55Mother, why didn't we give up Lith?
05:58He's put us all in danger.
05:59I stood in silent fury.
06:02Couldn't they see that what I did saved father's life?
06:05I am the only thing standing between them and certain death.
06:09Lith?
06:10Suddenly, from the woods, my father's light steps found us.
06:14He grabbed me and hugged me fiercely.
06:17You did good, son.
06:19Raz, Lith has painted a target on our backs.
06:23We have to get to Nans.
06:25She'll know what to do.
06:27And she hates the nobleman.
06:30Mother was patting Trista on the back.
06:32But my poor sister vomited into the bushes.
06:35Suddenly, the bush that she vomited into immediately shriveled into white ash.
06:41Mother's face turned the same color.
06:44Trista's been cursed.
06:48We're taking Trista to see Nana.
06:51I had never been to the village before.
06:53It was the first time I could see the world outside the farm.
06:57I used the same magic I knew from doing chores to swat them away.
07:01When the village was in sight, I had a better picture of this new world.
07:05It wasn't just my family and farm.
07:08The whole village reminded me of a drawing from a Middle Ages history book.
07:12My mother pointed out different buildings as we passed.
07:16I noticed with surprise that it was bigger than ours,
07:19even though our mother had told us that Nana lived alone.
07:23It was clear that either Nana came from a rich family,
07:26or, more likely, that healing was a very lucrative business.
07:30Once inside, we were greeted by the smell of herbs and incense.
07:35Nana was busy treating a patient,
07:37and my mother struck up a conversation with another family,
07:40so I decided to explore.
07:42Inside a small open cabinet, I discovered a treasure,
07:46a book titled Basics of Magic.
07:49My curiosity was insatiable.
07:52Better to beg forgiveness than ask for permission, I figured, and started reading.
07:57I turned a page and started reading a simple dark magic spell
08:00when the room was cast in shadow.
08:02Purple flames swirled all around me,
08:04and the book leaped from my hands, hovering in the air.
08:07A voice hissed,
08:09I see your curiosity, Lith.
08:11You have great powers.
08:13You could be the greatest mage of all.
08:16I tried to play innocent.
08:18I don't know what you mean. I'm only a child.
08:21The voice grew louder.
08:23I can help you to fulfill your destiny.
08:25My heart beat faster.
08:27What kind of cursed book was this?
08:29Where was the voice coming from?
08:31Suddenly, I felt a firm hand on my shoulder.
08:34The flames disappeared.
08:36The book fell to the floor,
08:38and I heard Nana's voice from behind me.
08:41That's not a toy, young man.
08:44Nana brought me outside,
08:46where my mother and sister were talking to the other people waiting.
08:49How could you just let him wander like that?
08:52Do you know what sort of trouble he could get himself into?
08:55My mother confessed,
08:57Lith's just so curious,
08:59and he's impossible to stop.
09:02The little rascal did not damage the book, so all is well.
09:05But he has to know that it's not a plaything.
09:08I hated it when someone spoke about me like I wasn't there,
09:11so I stood up.
09:13I wasn't playing with the book. I was reading it.
09:16Nana looked astonished.
09:18I was reading it. How old are you, my dear?
09:21My mother answered.
09:23He's three, Nana gasped.
09:25Three?
09:27She looked me in the eyes, and I saw a memory wash over her.
09:30The magic I did the day I was born.
09:33Her tone shifted.
09:35You always were a precocious one, weren't you?
09:38She picked the book up and opened it to a random page.
09:42Read what's written here.
09:44I could not read, but I heard the hissing voice again,
09:47and I repeated as it instructed,
09:49Joe, run. Shalom. Salah. Sira.
09:54Nana snapped the book closed.
09:56Enough!
09:58Swallowing her pride, she continued.
10:01I owe you an apology, Alina.
10:03It seems that your son is indeed blessed by the light.
10:07The others gasped, and my mother's eyes grew wide.
10:11Blessed by the light?
10:13I thought that was just an old fairy tale.
10:16I turned to Nana.
10:18Can I... take the book with me?
10:22I will return it completely intact.
10:24I promise.
10:26Nana examined me, suspicious.
10:28Can you already do magic?
10:30I blurted out, yes, I can, before realizing my mistake.
10:34I'm such an idiot. I just blew my cover.
10:36I quickly followed up.
10:38I can do wind and water chore magic.
10:40Nana smiled for the first time.
10:43You said that you can conjure water, correct?
10:46I nodded.
10:48Create a water sphere, but don't let it fall.
10:50Make it float like this.
10:52She produced a sphere of water the size of a fist that floated in her hand.
10:57I obliged.
10:58Joran, I said, conjuring a small amount of water.
11:02The water floated for a second before I let it fall to the ground,
11:06but instead of hitting it, it started floating again.
11:09It became a perfect sphere and orbited alongside Nana's own.
11:13The crowd looked shocked.
11:15Both spheres were spinning by themselves.
11:18They captured the light from the sun and turned it into the sparkles of a rainbow.
11:23I had always seen magic as a great force to be reckoned with,
11:27a useful tool to build a new life with.
11:30But this was the first time I saw magic could be beautiful.
11:34Nana turned toward me.
11:36I have a proposal for you.
11:38You're still too little right now, but when you're six years old,
11:41instead of going to school, you could come here instead.
11:45You could read all these books as much as you want,
11:48and maybe you could even learn my trade.
11:51I tilted my head.
11:53My mother was ecstatic.
11:55She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.
11:58Nana continued.
12:00We'll have this conversation again three years from now.
12:03If little Lith doesn't become as dumb as all the other boys in this village,
12:07I'll take him as my apprentice.
12:09Let's hope you're still interested in magic and books by then.
12:13I accepted.
12:15Then it was Trista's turn.
12:17I observed as Nana used healing light magic.
12:21Trista's condition did not improve, Nana said.
12:25She would need regular treatments.
12:27We were heartbroken.
12:29From that day forward, I was allowed to openly practice magic around the house.
12:33I practiced creating lightning and fire, and when no one was looking,
12:37I practiced healing Trista with the tiny amount of light magic I could make.
12:41The dark voice never returned.
12:43Until one day, when we were out gathering firewood,
12:46Orple cornered me.
12:48I know your secret, Lith.
12:50He spat.
12:51I know about the dark magic, and I'll be damned if I let you kill us all.
12:55But this time, the dark voice said something that shook me to the core.
13:00How far will Lith go to save his sister?
13:02Will Lith cross over to the dark side?
13:04What is little Lith's destiny?
13:06Will Lith survive his brother's attack?
13:09To know what happens next, listen to Supreme Magus only on the Pocket FM app.