章 17: Chapter Fourteen: Family Mysteries Not Solved.
My green irises blink around the room, trying to take in all of the people here and not get anxious about it. This is the first time I have ever been around this many people at once, or honestly in all in general. It is more than jarring to just sit here, even though everybody has most of their attention on Gram.
The only one getting distracted happens to be Luke, who sits on the other side of Koda who's to my right. I watch him with my head low and eyes slightly away just in case he looks me into my pupils. He blinks back and forth from Koda and I, then to the new girls who sit on the carpet a few feet from us.
Gram continues, "We are unable to have a real investigation about what happened the other night..." I look over at her just as she brushes her greying blonde hair out of her face. "...The law states that the Elyrian Guard do not go to foreign lands; Earth, for any types of legal matter. With Leanda working for the Guard," She gestures towards the dark haired woman who I assume is my aunt, "...she was able to have some men agree to come to Earth anyway. They will only stay to watch our home, nothing more."
The stranger who stands next to my uncle who's sitting in his office chair adds, "The Guard believe that these men who had Ellie and the others cause a threat to Elyria, and so gathering information they can determine more about the men's intentions. The only negative is how we can not pose any actions unless the men are on Elyrian land."
"What is the Guard?" I blurt to Koda beside me.
"They are sort of like a military," He replies. "Most of them work and protect the royals and their estates, while some along side of that are there for royal jobs, defenses, and some legal issues. The lower ranking Guard are sent out to handle more specific kingdom issues. There are different types of Guard depending on what kingdom they work for."
Without any other warning I'm immediately distracted by my name being called from across the room, "Why don't you explain to everyone your story?" Gram questions.
Instantly my body becomes tense as the thought of the Hunters enter my mind. Memories flash through me of the sadness and pain from past isolation and mental torture. When I take a look up a pit begins to form in my stomach. Once I find everyone gazing at me I'm utterly speechless. Again I'm feeling almost pressured to speak, even though they don't mean to make me feel that way. My eyes blink down to my hands that are instantly fiddling with the rim of my shirt.
Koda clears his throat, "I think it's to invasive to ask Ellie to explain right now. She hardly knows anything about us, we should at least tell her more about ourselves."
At his words a weight is lifted off my shoulders and I nod my head in agreement. I keep my stare low in case someone looks straight into my eyes. For me the shock of being here makes it all so surreal, still, that I can't understand many of my own emotions.
I just don't want to keep talking about where I came from, it was all I knew only a few days ago. Now I'm in a room with people staring right at me as if I told them the most bizarre secret in the world. I have never seen such a large group of people so dumbfounded in my life.
Luke starts, "I'll go first..." He takes a glance over at Lynn, "...I'm Luke."
It is just me or does he seem to be directly talking to Lynn who's across the room?
Lynn and Estelle exchange looks before he continues, "My real name is Lucius and I was born on Elyria just like the rest of us. I'd like to show you guys around Provence if you'd let me," He keeps his eyes on Lynn and her face get red almost instantly. "If there's anything fun you'd like to do, I'll do it! I like exciting things like travelling across the kingdoms and visiting the beaches..." He smiles not once moving his eyes from Lynn, "Oh and I like girls by the way-"
Jane mutters, "Luke shut up." Right as Koda leans over to whisper in my ear, "I think Luke has a little crush on her."
I watch Luke wink at Lynn, making her avoid his eye contact.
Jane goes next, "I'm Jane, Luke's cousin. Koda and Ellie are my siblings. Since we are Elyrian, a type of species on this planet, we have powers that vampires, witches, and so on may not have. I'm a water elemental so I can manipulate certain things. I'm just learning the basics because it is very new to me. I've heard my powers are similar to mermaids powers."
"How do you learn things like that?" Estelle asks.
"I have a tutor who teaches at the nearest university. That's where I have to go this afternoon, to meet up with her. She is the only other water elemental in this area that has full potential of her powers. Elementals seem to be very rare."
Luke mutters, "Oh don't be so full of yourself."
Jane rolls her eyes, "He's just jealous because his powers haven't developed yet."
Koda adds, "Well, I don't have my powers either."
"Okay..." I catch a glimpse of Gram rolling her big blue eyes. "Koda introduce yourself." She waves her arm at him.
He signs, giving off a little attitude, "My name is Koda." He sounds somewhat irritated, or is he secretly shy?
Dan goes, "Well maybe you've got to explain to us where you've been this whole time?"
Koda hangs his head low, "When my sisters went missing I went searching for them after finding out about the Hunters. Some research I found said they were only a myth but after being led to the Donnan Castle for a book of records in their library I determined the Hunters to be centuries old. A group set out to change history."
I recall last night on our walk through the beautiful city hearing Jane and Koda talking about the Donnan family. Lynn drempt of them, and someone mentioned how the family line is gone because they're all dead now. How does just a queen with no family run a kingdom?
"What kingdom is this in?" I question.
"Vampire."
My mouth shoots open at the sound of Lynn's voice. She looks around the room with a puzzled expression on her face, "Is that true?"
"Yes." Koda and Gram say simultaneously, as Jane adds, "It is called Dibbley. It is the closest kingdom to Provence."
"If it's Vampire then why was I there?" Lynn whispers to Estelle but nobody notices.
Her companion shrugs as my uncle begins speaking, "I am Marek Box and am an elemental like Jane. I can control land, not water. My powers are somewhat like an Elf's powers where I can manipulate plants. In addition to that I have an empathetic power, so I feel everyone's emotions."
Lynn's head shoots over to Marek, "Two powers are rare!"
With everyone's eyes on Lynn, her posture begins to fall slowly like she is embarrassed of her sudden outbursts. She's blurted out twice now and I'm aware that she has very little memories of her second self. It makes me wonder if these arising thoughts are not memories from her but instead her dream life. Considering the situation at least she looks much healthier now, and her hair is cleaned and put back.
Gram exclaims, "Our family is a bit different, and you have pointed that out so easily young lady." Lynn's expression changes from blindly looking around to a drastic freeze in her body movement. Even her eyes have struck something off into the distance. I've met that feeling so well, she's trying to avoid eye contact with anyone.
The woman who I identify as my aunt adds, "None of you should mention to anyone, especially out in public certain things about our family. Nobody can know that some of us have more than one power."
Gram ties in again, "We must not say why but just know it is a matter of life and death. Some things need to be left unsaid." Right away I'm quite confused, even as Gram continues on, "Word has gotten around to many of us that you my dears..." She gestures towards Estelle and Lynn, "...came from Earth. But I can see that one of you may not be so human after all."
Lynn's eyes widen, clearly showing how she's become so fearful. I watch as slowly all of the color drains from her cheeks. I thought she would be excited to talk about herself now that she is in Elyria but really that may not be the case.
Shyly she states, "I was brought up normal- human. No explanation of Elyria or how I know. Where I come from people- family, did not know about Elyria." Her words are a jumbled mess but everyone let's her speak. "They thought it was something I made up, and I was crazy because they had no other logical reason. But now I'm here proving them all wrong."
Gram questions, "You have memories of Elyria?"
She shakes her head no, "It's not like that though. Ever since I can remember I've fallen asleep to wake back up to a separate world. It is more than just a dream, it is lucid-like. I live another life on Elyria and it is just as real as this is right now."
"This is your first time here?" Marek clarifies.
"I have never traveled between worlds in this body, but I do come here every time I sleep..."
Koda speaks up, "So what did you dream of when you were sleeping this morning?"
Lynn sighs, "I wish I could remember, it all dissapears so fast. What I do know is that I've met creatures that are humanly impossible, and I've been to places that humans don't know exist. I have vivid memories of castle corridors and a large dark forest that is similar to pine trees but not exactly them. What I have said earlier today are things that have come out of no where, I did not know those things until I had already said them."
"A human could not make those things up." Koda states.
Makek argues, "Well, unless she'd overheard things before?"
"You mean from the men?" Estelle asks.
"They're called Hunters." Koda clarifies.
"If Koda did find out some truth about the Hunters, that means that they know about us or are from Elyria," Marek replies. "It wouldn't be too hard for someone to remember things they've said."
Lynn murmers, "But no, I was put in there because of the things I used to say to people about Elyria. They thought I was crazy for dreaming about another realm."
Koda adds, "I can prove she is telling the truth..." He looks at Marek, "...Your powers would be able to tell you if she's lying."
Marek agrees, "I can't guarantee that, but she does believe what she is saying..."
Koda adds, "Besides, she told us she drempt of the Donnan family, that's something oddly specific."
My grandmother gasps.
Lynn speaks once more, "I'd rather not discuss if you believe I'm lying or not. I would like to get more information to figure out what I really am. Who I am."
With those words I've finally understood, she's eager to come out of her shell now that's she's gotten interested in figuring out herself. Somewhat reminds me of myself because I am doing the same, I think we all are today.
Gram asks her to tell us more and so she does, "Sometimes I can picture flashes of moments in my mind, or feelings as well. But it's so faint now I can hardly explain it. When I awake back there my memories from here are gone, and I go through my day."
Everyone is almost silent, making me conclude this is something they've never heard of before. After finding Jane, I believed she and the rest of my family would have all the answers but they don't. Even this is too perplexing for the people who have magic coursing through their veins.
"Some days, when I am in this body I faint, due to waking up in my sleep. I'm pretty sure this happens there as well. As a child I tried telling my parents that but they believed I was sick for years. They never considered I was two completly different people, or that's how I would explain it."
Luke stops her, "Do you look the same in your other life?"
She blushes, "All I can remember is I have some sort of wings. I've had many instances where I thought I had them in this body. I also think I have some kind of markings, like tattoos. That's all I can remember."
Gram mutters with a very serious tone, "This is something I want you to keep quiet about, only our family can know."
Why does everyone talk like there's spies around that will overhear everything we say? A flash of darkness goes through my head of a short memory from walking here early this morning. The figure standing across the street watching me, then with a seconds glance away they'd dissapeared. I'm starting to wonder if this place isn't what Jane has said to be. It's much darker than I initially was told.
"Only certain creatures have wings and markings." Gram almost whispers.
I blink over at Luke, hoping he can explain more but his furrowed eyebrows tell me he's confused about something. Koda, on the other hand has wide eyes and glances away from our grandmother.
"She may be a fairy..." Gram announces.
The rest of the family gasps while Lynn, Estelle, and I move our heads around clueless. I find Luke standing, as if this information makes him want to run away from her, my sister beside me tenses and leans to the right, away from where Lynn is on the floor. My aunt is wide-eyed and frozen in place like she's trying to make an important decision.
The biggest sign of threat is that I hear how everyone's heartbeats have become erratically and their paces have picked up immensely.
"Wh- what?" Lynn eventually stammers, "It can't be. I don't think so."
"...does that mean..." Luke whispers.
"Mean what?" I'm utterly lost.
My cousin still doesn't remove his eyes from her, "Is she a fairy? In this life?"
Gram assures him, "Does it look like she has wings Luke? No, no she doesn't. I wouldn't be too worried at all. And she has no markings, which all faries have large visible ones."
After a quick change of conversation Estelle tells us about herself and how we got back here. That leaves me less to talk about when my time comes. Slowly it is said that we got split up and Lynn was left behind, only to be discovered by Koda himself.
This leaves everyone else in pure shock, while Luke demands for Koda to tell us how he ended up there, "Koda, this is making me think you are hiding things from us...again!"
Koda only says, "It wasn't like that, I was just in the right place at the right time. I didn't know that she was escaping with Ellie. Lynn just needed somebody to save her from the men and I was right there to show her the way back to somewhere safe."
My grandfather clears his throat for the first time and gets in on the argument, "And you were gonna take a human to Elyria?"
"She was already imprisoned by the Hunters," Koda says calmly from beside me. "They brought her into this and I wanted to bring her out of it, I didn't think of the consequences."
Luke beams down at him, "Yet what would have happened if she ended up being human and you brought her back and someone found out about it..."
My stomach becomes uneasy and I get the urge to stand up to walk out of the room, but I'm too worried someone would stop me.
Marek suddenly butts in to stop them, "Boys this is over, you can't just talk about humans in this way. You're being disrespectful to Estelle and Lynn."
Luke continues, "Koda has endangered them by bringing them here! Besides how can he show up here like nothing had ever happened? He'd been gone for so long, how can we allow him to walk in without any explanations?"
His enraged words make a point, we need to hear more from Koda.
"I'm not too happy about that either," Jane speaks for the first time in a while. "Koda is going to have to gain my respect back too."
Looking over at Koda I notice that he doesn't seem entirely angry or upset. He must have accepted that they'd act this way.
After my aunt introduced herself as Leanda, who works for one of the Elyrian government buildings, organizing projects and keeping the Provence City safe, I find out that she works along side with The Chief of the Guard for Provence. This makes me wonder if now that we have more information on the men that took me, that they can figure out where they came from. They may not be able to investigate on foreign lands but they definitely can take action here. This gets me excited because maybe I can get closure after all this time.
My aunts short dark hair stops just below her tight jawline while her dark eyes blink between the new girls and me. Her bangs are curled slightly but they're thin, revealing her pale forehead.
"My powers aren't very relevant." She says before directing the conversation to my grandparents.
Gram speaks next, "Girls," she looks to Estelle and Lynn. "Call me Gram and nothing else. Nobody should speak of my first name or my age. Pa and I have our home on Earth but we have a getaway beach home in Provence as well. I can talk to the dead, mostly through my dreams. I also can see the future in flash moments."
Next my grandfather speaks, "Everybody calls me their Pa." His voice is low, almost quiet. He takes a second before saying, "I am an inexperienced water elemental, I have enhanced hearing, and I can talk to animals."
After hearing them, I decide that no this can not be normal. I'm more than shocked and I can't even imagine a person having those kinds powers, especially multiple.
My eyes look around the room, through everyone trying to comprehend how powerful they all are. My initial thought is that my family is different. They said earlier to keep quiet about certain things, and Jane has refused to speak of our own parents. Some things have happened in mysterious ways as well that I haven't been able to put a finger on.
Gram clears her throat, "Now Ellie, it is your time to catch us up."
Once again I'm mentally and physically hating all of the attention so Jane tells the now-famous story of how she found me. I finish by speaking about my memory loss with more detail and mentioning how my days were like...boring. Lastly I conclude with the story of my second tragic escape where we got caught leaving.
"So how did you get taken back?" Luke asks.
I left out some missing information that may make my newly discovered family member become even more angry at Koda. I freeze when everyone goes back to me, "The men raided the house looking for me and Jane, I almost escaped with Koda until..." I don't finish my sentence, instead I look down at my hands remembering how hurt I still am for him leaving me.
Once again everything escalates quickly as Luke puts two and two together, "You need to leave, Koda. How can we trust you in our house if you aren't telling us everything? How did you end up being at the right place at the right time twice?"
He says nothing while the rest of the people in the room realize what Luke is getting to.
My uncle stands, looking down at Koda who sits next to me, "We need to talk, alone!"
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット