"Did you just say, my father?" Sophie said, her voice barely a breathy whisper.
Leto sighed and sat down on a wooden bench, placing his head in his hands.
"You know who the Vatarians are, correct?" Leto said, peeking through his hands.
"I tried to read about them, but I couldn't because the-"Sofie was cut off.
"Becuase of the memory wipe the council performed, I know. It is funny, how the council wiped away an entire race because of the stupidity of one of their members." Leto said with a pathetic chuckle.
"Leto, what does it have to do with my father?" Sophie pressed.
Leto looked up and started to pace around.
"I'm getting there. The Vatarians are a kind of Elven sub-species. The Vatarians originally came first, but a couple of Vatarians decided that their delicate minds were too much for the Vatarians harsh world. So they decided to create a new world. From there, they evolved into the elves, with different minds and powers. The Vatarians never held hatred towards those who left, but the elves always were wary of the Vatarians. The vatarians have six main cities which are very similar to your human cities, we are the most familiar with the one called Inalia. It is similar to the human's renaissance Italy and Mesopotamian Greece." Leto explained. Sophie sat on the bench as the words spilled out of him as if they were building up in him for a long time.
"Leto, all of this is great, and I am happy to be learning about a lost species, but what does this have to do-"
"I am a Vatarian Sophie!" Leto yelled, his eyes watering.
Sophie's mouth fell open. Leto sighed and fell back onto the bench.
His voice was barely discernable as he mumbled something else to Sophie.
"And so are you."
Sophie's eyes went big, her knees shakey.
"W-what?" Sophie asked, her voice shy.
"You are not an elf, Sophie. You are a Vatarian."
The world seemed to slow and stop around her, pulling and pushing on her gut.
"No, no, no, no. This is not funny Leto!" Sophie yelled, her voice unbalanced.
"Sophie, please just listen to me!" Leto began, following Sophie as she starts to pace. But Sophie couldn' listen to him; she couldn't listen to anyone. Her world felt like it was shaking, the wall churning like they were about to suffocate her.
"Listen to you? LISTEN TO YOU?! You are telling me that I initially thought I was a human, then I was told I was an Elf! Now all of a sudden I'm a whole new god damn species?!" Sophie yelled, tears piling in her eyes.
Leto grabbed her shoulders."Sophie please-"
Sophie threw him off. "No! I'm tired of being told I'm one thing when I am another! This is just too crazy to believe Leto! I-" Sophie was cut off as Leto jumped off and pressed his fingers into her temples. Sophie felt him push images into her mind. The mental stress was too much for Sophie and Leto, both with Sophie's emotional state and Leto pressing the memories in her mind. They both felt their bodies go numb and fall to the ground. But Leto pushed the last of the images into Sophie mind as he fell into unconscious.
Sophie was in a black hole of her mind, plummeting down into her emotional stability. Sophie couldn't breathe; everything felt too hot and too cold, everything was too sick, too deranged only until Sophie heard a voice.
"Breath, *Candessa, breathe." A voice called out.
Sophie swiftly felt warmth fall over her. A face entered her mind, one warm and caring. He had slick dark brown hair ties behind his head with a red cloth with a strong jaw with stubble not cleanly shaven off, giving him a modest look. His smile was warm, almost like it will make all horrible things go away, with a small scar going through his upper lip. He wore a loose white tunic with brown leather pants and high black boots. Both him and Sophie were sitting on a luscious bed, with his hand resting on her back.
Sophie glanced at herself in a nearby mirror. And it made Sophie's eyes widen.
She was so young, at least five years old.
Before age nine, this is why she can't remember anything before nine, because Leto took her memories.
Her hair was braided and pulled back, and she wore a thin green tunic with a brown belt around her abdomen, with a white knee-length skirt. Sophie stared back up at the man, and she felt hit with memories and emotions.
Memories of her home called Inalia.
Memories of her laughing with her guild, who felt like family.
Memories of playing in the courtyard with her cousin.
Memories of playing in the Grecian oceans.
Memories of her embracing her father.
The words seemed to echo in her mind.
Her father...
She glanced up at the man resting his hand on her young self's back. She glanced particularly up at his eyes. It made her falter and gasp. Her very own brown eyes stared back at her.
"Father..." Sophie murmured.
"Hello, my little one. How I have missed you." He murmured. Sophie felt tears spill over her eyes as she reached up for him, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him close. He did the same, letting out a shaky breath. They both seemed to glue to one another, a daughter and a father separated for far too long.
"What happened? How is this happening? Last time I checked, Leto and I were passed out on the dungeon stones." Sophie mumbled into Father's shoulder.
"Leto is restoring your memories, my *passerota. After he took them away to protect you. Right now, you have conjoined minds that are resorting to a time that was safer to you both. Similar to how the elves protect themselves when their minds break." Her father explained. Young Sophie looked at him, confused. Her father chuckled, a warm rumbling sound that made Sophie smile.
"Leto, are you there, my friend?" Her father called out to the room. A small flash boomed in the room, and Leto stepping out of it. Leto looked younger, with his hair long and tied behind his head and he was wearing a similar outfit to her father.
"I'm here, Allesandro," Leto said, walking over to them. Allesandro, Sophie's birth father, set her down and walked over to Leto. They both hugged like long lost friends.
"How I have missed you both," Allesandro said, pulling away from the hug.
"Father, what happened? Why did I have to leave from you?" Young Sophie asked, getting up from the bed.
Leto and Allesandro shared a look before Leto kneeled in front of her.
"You were panicking too much, and I want you to have at least a somewhat calm mind when I give you back your memories," Leto explained, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Sophie took a deep breath and stared at her father, who gave her a smile that gave her the courage to do anything.
"Okay, I think I am ready," Sophie said, meeting eyes with Leto. He gave her an encouraging nod before placing his fingers onto her temple and bringing her to the story of her life.
"Let's start from the very beginning," Leto said, pouring the memories into Sophie's head.
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"Come on you cowards! Fight like the warriors you claim to be!" Allesandro called out to the drunken masses in the bar him, Leto, and another teenage girl Sophie couldn't identify just snuck into.
"Allesandro, you absolute moron, stop! You are going to get us all killed!" Leto called out as the drunken men start to walk towards them.
"What else is new?" The female voice of the teenage girl called out from next to them, putting up her hands. She looked exactly like Allesandro except for her eyes, where instead of his brown ones, she had dark blue ones.
"For your information, we are going to be fine! We get stuck in brawls all the time!" Allesandro said, finishing off his stolen mug of ale. He then turned to the girl next to him who was putting her hands up, ready to swing.
"And for your information sister, I do not get us stuck in brawls!" Allesandro said, ducking under one of the fists that barely missed his face.
Both Leto and his sister gave him a look of annoyance.
The three friends ducked and fought their way through must of the people in the bar until someone slammed the door open.
"Hey! You are under arrest!" A guard yelled, pointing at the trio.
"Oh *merda, run!" Leto said. They all ran out the door or the windows and down the streets of Inalia. They laughed and whooped down the roads as guards rushed to catch them. They ducked under market stalls and jumped over carts, eventually finding haven in a nearby alleyway, where the guards couldn't see them.
"Nice going dumbass. *Madre is going to kill us!" Alessandro's sister whispered.
"Not if she doesn't know we were gone!" Allesandro said, jumping up onto the crates stacked on the walls of the alley and pulling himself onto the roof.
"What are you doing?!" Maria said as Leto followed him up onto the roof.
"Getting home the fastest way possible!" Leto said, extending his hand to Allesandro's sister. She rolled her eyes and joined the two on the roof. They all rushed forward onto top of the roofs, flying high above the crowded streets of the Vatarian city Inalia. They rushed past the busy streets in the Inalia's heart, commonly called Renisanca, and they rocketed over to the green grassy lands of Grecia, where they lived, just outside Renisanca.
They flipped into their family kitchen just as their mother entered from outside, from gathering vegetables. The trio casually sat in the chairs of the kitchen trying to calm there deep breath. Allesandro's mother looked like an older version of Allesandro's sister and Allesandro, same golden skin, dark brown hair. Except for the eyes, where Allesandro's sister and their mother had dark blue ones, Allesandro had coffee brown ones.
"Oh, Hello, Madre!" Allesandro said nervously. Allesandro's mother rolled her eyes at her two children and their friend.
"How were the pubs?" Their mother asked, not even looking up from peeling corn over the sink. All three of the teenager's mouth fell open.
"Madre, how did you know?" Allesandro's sister said not even bothering to create an excuse.
"*Voi idioti, I know everything, I am your mother! And it is becoming extremely annoying how you all keep on ignoring me when I tell you to start acting responsibly! It, It-" Their mother threw down her corn as she started to rant. She then chuckled and put a hand on Alessandro's sister's cheek.
"It reminds me of when I was your age." She said. Leto, Allesandro's sister, and Allesandro all shared a look as their mother went back to peeling her corn.
"So... we are not punished?" Allesandro asked from the table.
"Oh no, you are going to be punished, alright." Allesandro's father said from the door as he walked in, carrying a basket full of grapes and olives.
"Ughhhh..." Both Allesandro's sister and Allesandro groaned. Leto got up and started to stride towards the door slowly.
"If that is all, I'm sure my madre needs help with-"
"Don't even try it, Leto," their mother started "You are my *idiota son's best friend, and you were just as involved in this as he was. You both are going to be going out to the outskirts of Grecia tomorrow to help Allesandro's uncle Claudio with building his stables." Their mother said, pointing the corn at Leto. Both Leto and Allesandro slump in their seats.
"Maria, you are going to be without your sewing kit until next month, and you will be taking care of the cattle until that time is up." Their father said, sorting the olives.
"What?! But *Padre, my sewing kit-"
"No arguing Maria." Their father snapped.
Maria?! Just like the woman from Sophie's dreams. Maria was Allesandro's sister. Which would make her Sophie's aunt? But she looks so much younger and happier in this memory, why was she shrouded by fire in Sophie's dream?
"Leto, you should go home, your mother has already confirmed that this punishment will be suited for you. Arrive at sunrise so you can ride out with Allesandro. And Maria, off to bed, I need a word with your brother." Their father said, ruffling Leto's black head of hair. Both Maria and Leto gave Allesandro a look of good luck as they left.
"Son, when you were first born, the physicians thought you were "defective" because of your eyes. "Brown eyes are a sign of misfortune and disability," they said. But when your mother and I held you in our arms, we knew you would amount to a vast fortune, even with rare eyes that only you possess. We kept you, even though we are a part of a Noble family, and it would be seen as taboo. I want you to keep in mind that you are allowed to have freedom and choice in your youth, but don't let it create roadblocks for your future. Make sure that you can genuinely amount to the greatness your mother and I saw in your brown eyes when you were born." His father said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Allesandro looked up to his father.
"Okay, Padre, I promise," Allesandro said.
"Good, now off to bed, your mother and I have much to discuss." His father said.
Allesandro went up to the stairs as his parents talked in hushed whispers downstairs.
(This is what Grecia looks like)
(These two images are what Renisanca look like)
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Idiota- Italian for Idiot
Voi Idioti- You idiots
Merda- Italian for shit
Passerota- Italian for Little Sparrow
Madre- Italian for mother
Padre- Italian for father