Chapter 8: Family History

Elyssia sat upright in her bed, breathing heavily. She was completely shaken to her core. She could still feel the burning heat on her skin while the impact from the flaming rocks hitting the ground seemed to still shake her to the core. Her hands were trembling as she sat in a complete daze.

Her door suddenly burst open as her mother whose room was next door rushed in completely panicked.

"Elyssia are you alright?! What happened!"

Her tears that had slowed started to fall again as her mother's voice shook her out of her daze.

"Mum!" Elyssia cried out.

Leaping into her mother's embrace she spent the next 15 minutes letting out all of the pent-up emotions from her nightmare.

As Elyssia eventually calmed down, Helena soothingly asked

"Elyssia, what happened to freak you out so much? This is the first time you have called me mum since you were 7. Was it a bad dream?"

"I-I had a dream, I think. But everything was so r-real. I could smell b-blood and death. I could feel the shaking of the earth."

"I could feel the burning. It was all so vivid." Elyssia explained.

"What! You could feel burning?" Helena exclaimed.

"y-yes mum, at the end, a black f-flaming m-meteor smashed right into me, Elyssia stammered with a shaky breath.

"Tell me everything that you dreamt" Helena asked in an uncharacteristically serious tone.

Spending the next 15 minutes to explain about the battlefield, the white city, and the mass destruction that rained from the sky, Helena sat there and listened with a slight frown on her face. As Elyssia got to the end of her dream, Helena's frown deepened.

"Oh, my poor baby girl, I can understand why you would wake up screaming like that" she said while sighing.

Bringing Elyssia into a warm hug again, she continued.

"Your grandfather will explain more about this tomorrow. Until the morning let's sleep together, that must have been so scary for you"

"mmmm, ok mum".

After a while and finally calming down in her mother's embrace, Elyssia managed to get to sleep with the help of Helena's warmth.

****

Waking up to the sensation of being hugged which she had not felt since she was young, Elyssia opened her eyes and lay there staring out of the window. She thought back to her strange dream last night which caused her to shiver a little while she tried to sort through what she experienced.

'That was terrifyingly real. Surely that can't have been a dream, everything I experienced and remember was so vivid, yet so many strange things happened. Black rifts don't just open in the sky. Magic is surely not real?'

Her shaking had caused Helena to wake up, who raised her hand to stroke Elyssia's head to calm her down again. The shock and fear Elyssia felt from her dream that was still vivid in her head slowly melted as she focused on the loving feeling coming from her mother's hand.

Eventually getting up for the day, Elyssia and her mother started to get themselves prepared, startling the maids who did not expect to see Helena in in Elyssia's room.

Dismissing the maids, Helena spent the time helping Elyssia brush her hair and get ready, making sure her beloved daughter was stating to feel better.

While Helena was brushing Elyssia's hair, she thought to herself. 'While it might have been physically painless, the mental damage from something like that was still there. I can only imagine what Elyssia felt after experiencing something as horrific as a war followed by her own death. I can't let my little girl out of my sight today.'

Appreciating her mothers care, Elyssia started to recover from her shocked mental state, becoming livelier as she walked down to have breakfast with her family.

"Mother, can we keep what happened last night from everyone, I don't want to worry them"

"Of course, but we will have to tell your grandfather. Also, I'm sad that you were so quick to go back to calling me Mother". Helena replied slightly pouting.

With a small smile at Helena's pouting, Elyssia asked "you mentioned talking to Grandfather about this last night, why is that? And what is it Grandfather wants to spend the whole day talking to me about? It sounds like you know why?"

"Yes, I do, but as much as I want to its better if you listen to him about it." Helena replied, a slight hint of a frown appearing on her face.

****

After Breakfast, Arthur called Elyssia to his study. Sitting in his usual chair, he invited Elyssia to make herself comfortable on the sofa opposite him.

With the slight crackling of the fire filling their ears as Arthur decides what to say with a serious look on his face, Elyssia broke the silence.

"Grandfather, last night I had a nightmare. But it was not normal. Everything was like I was actually there, and I remember it all so clearly. Its not like previous dreams I had in the past. Mother told me I should tell you everything that happened, although I do not know why. But from everything that she said, I assume it is linked to what we are talking about today?"

Thinking to herself, 'although I don't see how dreams are so important, even if they seem so real. While it is incredibly strange, what links does it have to do with what Grandfather has been so serious about?'

"Hmmm. Tell me everything you saw. Don't leave out any detail"

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Surprised by Arthurs serious tone, Elyssia explained everything in as much detail as she could, eventually shedding a few tears when she reached the end of her story.

Arthur's heart broke seeing Elyssia crying, quickly getting up gently wiping away her tears with his handkerchief.

"That must have been horrible Elyssia, but you need to stay strong. As much as I wish my darling granddaughter didn't have to experience such things, it seems it was inevitable" Arthur explained, his jaw and fists clenching in anger at the end.

"What do you mean Grandfather? Why is it inevitable?"

"We will get to that. But first, tell me what you remember about our family's history." He asked while returning to his seat.

"Well, I know that the Sadrestium family origins can be traced back to ancient Rome as one of the families sent to help stabilise the newly formed province of Britannia. The family had produced a number of excellent centurions and legates in service to the Empire over the generations. However once Britannia was split from the Empire and left to fend for itself, the family decided to remain in the province and attempt to help maintain it independently from roman rule."

"I assume that the family remained in Britannia as they had important ties here, but I am surprised they didn't move back to Rome due to loyalty to the empire."

Nodding, Arthur indicated for Elyssia to continue.

"Anyway, after the Saxon invasions and fall of Roman Britain, the family effectively went into hiding until the eventual resurgence of civilisation in the late 7th century. With the reintroduction of writing and the minting of new currency we were able to quickly rise to power once again using the wealth and knowledge amassed from the family's time under Roman rule."

"Through sheer luck and staying neutral as we could the family managed to survive many political struggles from the 7th century to the modern era." Readjusting her posture, she paused before continuing her summary.

"I know that the family has been considered as strange by the nobility on many occasions as some of those who married into the family have not always been of noble birth which was looked down upon at the time, as well as those periods of time such as in English civil war of 1642 where the family stayed neutral, earning the ire of many."

"Other than our families many notable military contributions over the centuries, there is not much to say other than we have been incredibly wealthy with a vast amount of knowledge available to us."

Slightly smiling at how diligent Elyssia was with her studies, Arthur nods his head.

"Yes, that is correct. However, that is not the whole story, only that of which the public knows. Tell me, where do you think your grandmother came from?"

Baffled by the sudden question Elyssia responded. "I thought grandmother came from Sicily?"

"Officially, yes, however in truth she appeared in England 3 miles away from the house at the age of 18." Arthur paused, leaning forward with his arms crossed on his knees before continuing.

"Before that, she was apparently from a place called the Sasteragia empire."

Elyssia, baffled by the strange name questioned. "The sasteragia empire? I have never heard of such a place. Where is it?"

Pausing, Arthur answered. "In a different world."

"Huh?" Elyssia sat there dumbstruck that her grandfather would come out with a line that people would only talk about one the science conspiracy forums. Somewhere Elyssia would occasionally visit to amuse herself with absurd theories.

"So, you mean that grandmother is an alien? I'm sorry grandfather but that's just absurd."

Laughing at Elyssia's comment, Arthur answered her silly question.

"Haha, not quite little Elyssia. I guess if you mean by the exact definition of an alien, that of being a foreign entity, then yes. However, your grandmother is 100% human. She is just from another reality? Dimension? I'm not sure on the exact term I should use, but I can for sure say it is a different planet than ours. I know that much at least because your grandmother told me about magic."

Completely lost by the current situation, Elyssia started to ramble incoherently "You mean grandmother has seen magic? Wait, can she use magic then? Wait, that's stupid, magic doesn't even exist, what am I talking about? Grandfather, what are you mak-"

Before Elyssia completely spiralled out of control Arthur interrupted

"Elyssia, calm down. I am being completely serious. The dream you had last night. In it you described a glistening white city surrounded on both sides by a river that formed a lake, right?"

"Y-yes, I did. What does that have to do with all this. Wait, don't tell me that place was real?" She asked with the colour draining from her face.

Lacing his fingers together and resting his head, Arthur explains. "Indeed, it is real. That is where your grandmother is from. Apparently, she used to live there until she was forcefully brought to our world. Do you remember seeing the picture of your great great grandmother? The same thing happened to her, but she was brought from a place called the Pheyolyra kingdom."

"Wait a second, are you telling me that there are a number of our family members who came from a different world?" Elyssia exclaimed, completely overwhelmed by the situation

"Almost, from the records kept by those members of the family, it is fairly safe to conclude that they each come from a different world"

Thinking deeply about the books she has read, Elyssia asks. "Wait, you are suggesting something akin to the concept of realms Plato hypothesised? But instead of perfect higher realm or imperfect lower realms, there are parallel realms similar to ours? Not to mention his theory about the existence of abstract objects would be something akin to magic?"

Impressed, Arthur nods.

"From my understanding, yes, it's quite similar"

Moving on from a state of surprise to a state of denial, Elyssia sighs in exasperation.

"Honestly, this is all crazy grandfather! How can you expect me to believe all of this! I know you are someone serious who would not bring something fantastical like this without good reason, but still!"

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