it wasn't meant to be like this .
it was just for her family , at first . the ' tonic ' , aurelia would later call it , was a simple mixture of water , medicinal herbs , and her blood , boiled together into a drinkable liquid . her adoptive mother had fallen gravely ill , and this was her last resort .
' healing runs in your veins ' , her brothers and sisters would tell her back home . she never thought they meant it so literally . no longer able to use her abilities as she did before falling , aurelia had to find new ways to make them work , and their words rang in her ears .
when she decided to test her theory , she didn't expect it to work so well . the woman who had taken her in almost a year earlier was on her death bed , and she was desperate to save her . perhaps that desperation is what made the effect so strong , or perhaps it was because her blood still carried a bit of grace . . whatever it was , it worked . within minutes of the young girl giving her the tonic , the woman had opened her eyes for the first time in over a week , and was soon up , walking and talking as if she had simply woken from a short nap .
her first mistake was revealing what she had done . her second was making more tonic for the rest of the family to try .
to make the tonic last longer , they added a small amount to a much larger portion of water . it quickly became a staple drink in the household . she saw nothing wrong with this , as everyone seemed so much happier and healthier - younger , even , in her adoptive parents' and grandparents' cases . the issue started when her father decided to allow another man he knew to try it . and he let someone else try the drink . and they did the same .
soon , before she had even opened her eyes for the day , aurelia would be awoken to her family hovering around her , begging for her to make more tonic . they began to sell it in the open market , and soon the entire village was asking for more tonic , offering anything and everything they owned for just a drop ! they'd kill for her to make more !
she realized too late what she had done , but the lengths people were willing to go to , simply for her blood had sparked a unfamiliar feeling , deep inside her . .
