The soft sunlight of daybreak caressed my face as the sun broke The violet sky of night. The songs of birds fill the air with serenity. My head hurts. It feels as if I've rested for a thousand years after not resting for a thousand, but yet lethargy refuses to release its grip on me. I open my eyes and all I see is a wooden ceiling. I look around the room. It is bare except for a closet, a mirror and the bed I lay on. The window is open and brown leaves litter the floor near it. I sit up and slide my legs off the bed. I try to stand up…
" Ouch!"
My legs collapsed beneath me and I fell. Only then did I realise that my legs were wrapped in bandages… and the crutch that was next to my bed. I crawled towards the crutch and tried to stand up, putting myself in a very unglamorous position. Suddenly, I heard quick footsteps come to the door and a hand at the door's handle. The door opened...
" Finally you are awake. Come down once you are ready to have breakfast"
The man at the door wore a blank expression, and luckily for me, he had a blindfold over his eyes, preventing him from seeing me in my awkward state.
" ...ok…" I said softly..
Who this man was, where I was, and anything else about myself besides my name was unknown to me, so I figured maybe he knew something about me. I stood up with the assistance of the crutch and climbed unsteadily down the stairs.
The dining room on the first floor had a long wooden antique table with intricate designs carved into its legs and matching sets of chairs. Upon the table laid a tablecloth with a grey and white checkerboard pattern, and two table settings facing opposite each other, on the lengths of the table. The blindfolded man walked into the room with two plates of pancakes and placed them onto the two table settings before sitting down. He gestured for me to sit. How he managed to maneuver the house with the blindfold over his eyes so skillfully was a mystery.
"Who are you?" he said as I stuffed a pancake into my mouth.
" My name is Genevie"
His eyebrows furrowed as if that answer was not what he wanted.
"I found you unconscious last night, with shadow monsters closing in on you. Who exactly are you?" he said more sternly this time.
" I don't know who I am and I was hoping that you would be able to help me."
" Don't tell lies.The night lord and his forces haven't been seen for a hundred years after the war he waged against the magical community was stopped with an armistice. So, if his forces are chasing after you, you must have gotten his attention in some way. Who are you?!"
" I don't know anything, I don't even remember how I …"
" Tell me the truth!" he cut in and stood up. In his face now was no longer hospitality but frustration. I stood up with the help of the crutch and that pushed it. In his hand, was no longer cutlery used for eating but a fireball burning large and bright.
" WHO ARE YOU?!"
" I DON'T KNOW!"
"....….…"
His fierce expression returned to the blank one he had before. He sighed, with the fireball still in hand.
" These days it's just so hard for good acts to be acknowledged…. You take in someone injured, dress their wounds and feed them a meal, but yet, they do not trust you enough to answer a simple question "
He lifted the fireball and prepared to throw it when…
"Idiot"
I turned to where the voice was coming from and there, embers gathered and became flames, spiralling upwards and forming a flame column, and when the flames dissipated, where the flames were stood a young girl with hair as red as the flames with eyes so cold that they burnt hotter than fire, wearing a simple light rose pink dress. I knew that such a spectacle should have made my jaw drop, but somehow, I felt as if this was something normal. She turned to face the blindfolded man.
" Why did you threaten her when she was telling the truth!"
"I thought that she was related to the night lord in someway"
" WELL, you obviously didn't consult me when you did. Have you forgotten that spirits like me can search people's conscience?...
The small girl continued on and on with a fiery personality that did not match her appearance as I sat down into the chair once again, and when she was done with the blindfolded man, he resembled a dog that has just been scolded.
He said to me next, " Ok let's start over again. I'm Sota, and this feisty girl is Rona. And you are?"
"Genevie"
" Good. Now that introductions are over, Rona thinks that you are someone from the nearby town who got lost, so now we are heading down there to check for lost posters."
As he walked to the door he, he snapped his fingers and a coat came flying onto his outstretched arms. He opened the door and
said as I stared, " are you coming?"