Chapter 34: Chapter 33: Family meeting

A short time later, I was laying on the bed that the four of us share. I was curled up on my side, not moving. I told them I wanted to rest and think. A lot had happened tonight after all. There were so many things that are going to be different now.

I had to talk to the others about how things were going to be in the near future, but what am I supposed to say? What I tell them is going to influence how they act from now on. I think they will understand. All of this was to save Eirlathion. Even with that being the case though, the actions we took today are going to have serious consequences.

There were things that I had only heard about. I had seen the fear in Eirlathion’s eyes as he repeatedly told me to hide my power and to act weak whenever I was in front of others. He hadn’t said the same to Tia. Instead, Tia was more or less forbidden to go outside at all. I was apparently only allowed out because I was trusted enough to play my part of “acting weak.”

Nymph seemed very hurt when I was just showing some common decency to the other elves. She always seemed irritated by the adult elves aside from Eirlathion. She didn’t take too kindly to the children either, but she especially hated the adults. There were some words she said tonight that suggested there might be a reason behind her negative attitude toward them. She had ears all over this village. She had probably heard them saying some things. Going by the nature of her objections tonight, it seems like some of those things they might have said were related to me and Tia.

It’s more than just revealing that at least Tia and I are not your average toddlers. We also violated the things that Eirlathion had been telling us, presumably for the sake of our safety. We didn’t just go against him though, we took a freaking bulldozer to the guard-rails he’s put in place around our lives, and drove that bulldozer right off the cliff.

What we did made perfect sense at the time. No, it might have even been essential for our continued lives in this village. Eirlathion may be our strongest line of support here, possibly the only reason we are still alive.

The more I think about it, the more I am starting to get a pretty ugly picture about how the members of this village look at us.

I am still thinking about the reaction he had to Tia’s method of healing him just now. According to her, that potion likely did a lot more than just heal him. It likely made him stronger as well. Stronger in a way that might even be repeatable. However, the very first thing out of his mouth was that we should never make that potion again. Once again, he said something for the sake of our safety.

Eirlathion. It really seems like he is someone we can trust. I will have to feel him out in terms of just how much information we should give him, but he is definitely someone who has our best interests at heart.

“…”

This is where my mind gets stuck. There are a lot of important things that happened today. A lot of important revelations. I got a good idea of how dangerous things are around me right now too. That danger has always been there, but what it took for me to find out just how deep the danger was caused it's severity to increase. If the four of us don’t do something to address it, something bad is going to happen to me and Tia. We need more information, and we need allies.

There are three people friendly to us in this village. Nymph, Eirlathion, and our caretaker Catla. Of those three, only Nymph and Eirlation had the ability to really make some kind of difference. What’s more, Catla has no power in the social dynamics of this village. As such, I do not know what she will do with power yet. Our situation is precarious enough that I cannot trust someone until they are proven. For all I know, the only reason she hasn't done anything against us is because she's never had the opportunity or ability.

Eirlathion seems to have a better handle on her though. I guess I can just leave judgement calls in regards to Catla up to him.

“... Asa?”

I suddenly felt a hand nudging my back. When I turned around to look, Tia was kneeling on the bed behind me and Levin was standing at the side with a concerned expression. Rolwen, for his part, was standing aside with an expression as though he was watching an interesting show.

I looked around at them and sighed as I sat up.

“I need to talk to all of you.” I told them. Levin still looked worried, but Rolwen somehow seemed delighted at my words. Tia just looked confused.

“About what?” She asked. She also looked worried.

“Oh please, the two of you.” Rolwen cut in. “The loli-baba master here said she needed to think, now she wants to talk. Stop treating her like she’s fragile.”

“What’s a loli-baba master?” Tia asked the exact thing I was wondering about without even missing a beat.

“Forget about it, it’s not important.” Rolwen said.

I just smiled. His confusing niche cultural references had managed to break the heavy atmosphere. That was something I could appreciate, even though I was about to drag it back down a heavy path. Even a quick joke being cracked in a situation like this is much appreciated.

“Thanks Rolwen. What I’m about to discuss is pretty serious, but I can’t have you all super worried about me the whole time. I’ve been thinking about something that could possibly cause us a lot of trouble here in the not too distant future. I need to tell everyone about it so that we are all on the same page and can deal with it appropriately.”

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Rolwen's face went dark as soon as he heard me. Before too long, Levin and Tia had the same expressions on their faces.

Levin was the first to speak up with a shaky voice. “Wh… what do you want to talk about?” He asked.

I let out a deep calming breath through my nose as I mentally prepared myself to dive into this subject. “Well, you are probably aware enough that Tia and I are not normal elves." I said. "And I do not mean the part about us having memories from our previous lives, or even that we are stronger than normal and growing faster than elves are apparently supposed to grow. No, those things are pretty unusual for sure, but there’s something else to it.”

It looked like I had all of their attention now. That’s good. Now, what is the best way to say this? Should I have rehearsed or something? No, that wouldn’t have helped. Well, let’s just say what feels right.

“There are all kinds of things. Little clues. Like, Tia and I can see in the dark. You two can’t. Catla can’t. Even Eirlathion can’t. I don’t think the elves here have that ability at all.” I told them. “Also, Eirlathion is always telling us to act like we’re weak. It seems our skin is the same color as elves who have some kind of bad disease, but we are not sick. This grey skin, like we are covered with a thin layer of ash, is our natural skin color. And, there’s one more thing. We have not seen our mother since we were born.”

“I… do not think our father was an elf. Not the same kind of elf as the ones around here anyway. Also, I don’t think our mother liked the way we came to be.” I said with a heavy tone.

“You think your father was one of those dark elves.” Rolwen said with a deadly serious tone. Not a question, definitely a statement.

I just matched his serious gaze. “I was not down there in the fight for long.” I said. “Tia saw more of them than I did. However, the way they moved and acted, those dark elves were definitely able to see in the dark. Also, I got a very good look at the one Tia took down first. His skin was dark. Just about twice as dark as the difference between mine and Tia's skin and the color of the rest of the elves here.”

Suddenly, Rolwen got a very determined look on his face. He definitely wanted to say something. Somehow, I got the oddest premonition it was going to be stupid. “Hey, so what?” He said. I thought I could see where this was going, but I decided to let him have it. “You're saying your mother was raped by one of these dark elves, right?" He asked with a tone that said it was a rhetorical question before he continued. "So, yeah. That’s definitely tough. That’s… definitely not right. I, but…” He suddenly lost steam. Guess he realized mid sentence this was not the right angle to conduct some pep-talk on this subject.

I smiled at him. “You want to know what this means for our future, right?" I asked. I knew that wasn't where he was going, but decided to be nice and let him save face while simultaneously getting this discussion back on track. "You want to know how knowing this changes things? How the ‘something bad for me and Tia’ in the future relates to this?” I prompted him with a few rhetorical questions of my own.

It looked like a spasm went through his body when I said that last line. Did he seriously forget about that part? “Actually, I was going to say how this doesn’t change anything, you’re the same person and all that…” He trailed off looking like a pouting and guilty child who had just been scolded. Well, in this life he is a child. A toddler in fact. But that’s not the point right now.

Anyway, looks like he's a pretty honest sort. Decided not to take the life-line I was throwing him. Guess I gotta give him a proper response to that then. “Well, you should probably avoid trying to make bold stirring speeches.” I said. “They usually don’t work out in real life the way they do on TV shows.”

I focused my gaze back on Levin, for no particular reason other than the fact he was in the center of the three people I was talking to. “Anyway, moving on. The problem I was referring to is the people of this village. Eirlathion is kind, and Catla dutifully cares for us under his instructions. However, if I go by things I’ve heard from Nymph and Eirlathion, it does not look like the other villagers have such kind intentions to mixed-breeds like me and Tia. The two of them are doing everything in their power to hide what we are from the rest of the village in order to keep us safe.”

“The kids seem to like you though.” Levin said. I returned a heavy gaze.

“Children look at things differently from adults.” I said. “They are unbiased. Yes, they just see us as children, the same as them. However, children are also easily influenced. What happens when their parents start telling them to stay away from us and that we are dangerous?”

“Well, I think some of them should see how nice of a person you are.” Levin said.

“The person I have shown them is someone who is pretending to be a sick child who smiles and talks to them. It has been a lie. Just an act. Do you think those children actually have the first clue as to what kind of person I am?” I demand in a tone that was probably more harsh than I meant for it to be.

“What’s more, they have already been hearing that Tia is dangerous and will bite them if they get too close. I know she was trying to protect you and Rolwen from how much they all harassed you, but that has given them fodder for all kinds of negative things that could be said about us now!” I continued in an even heavier tone. Tia’s shoulders drooped like a wilting flower as she heard my words.

“Sorry…” She let out a pathetic sounding moan.

I let out a sigh. It seems like this really has gotten pretty heavy again. Gotta take this toward a solution.

“So, here’s the problem. We’re shut up in here while the rumors and discontent that could spell bad things for us are circulating out there. If we want to have any chance to make things go well for us, we need to figure out how to make ourselves look good in front of them. We cannot do this though if we don’t have a guide. I don’t think Nymph is willing to cooperate. She knows the other elves hate us, and she hates them in return as a result.” I take a glance around the semi-circle that has formed around me.

“So, here’s my solution.” I said. “I think we should invite Eirlathion into our little group.”