44 Unknown - Part 1

"Do you remember me?"

The girl had quickly stood up and ran over towards her. She looked at her trying to figure out why she was really familiar.

"I don't know." She clutched her head as it was in pain. "Wait, you're my master? No that isn't right. Korral? No. Paroppe. That sounds right. You're Paroppe?"

It was more of a statement, but she wasn't too sure. Before the girl could answer, the elf came closer to her and asked her a question in a loud voice.

"How do you know my grandmother's name?" The elf boy too covered his mouth and backed away. "I'm sorry." She watched as he grit his teeth and walked away out of the room.

"Don't worry about Ayanni for now. My name is Paroppe you got that right Lera!" She said it with a warm smile, but 'Lera' wasn't sure that was her name.

"Lera? That's my name?"

"How about you two sit down for now."

She turned towards the boy in the chair. She couldn't place his name. She stared at him, before averting her eyes. She didn't like it when they did it to her and it took a moment to realize what she was doing.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I'm Jev by the way."

"Hello Jev. I'm sorry I didn't know… remember your name."

"I said it's fine. You know my sister, Paroppe. The one who walked away was Ayanni. Don't worry about him right now. He's fine."

"Okay…"

Jev turned towards Paroppe. He was signaling her to speak up. At least that was what 'Lera' had guessed. She was still confused about a lot of things. There were so many people, but she couldn't find the one in her head that said who she was.

"What do you remember, Lera?"

"That's the thing. I don't really remember anything." She looked at her hands, her finger specifically. "I know how to count. Mathematics, but my name, who I am? No, I don't know. It's confusing. There are different people, faces and names that don't match. The name Lera sounds familiar, but I don't know if that's who I am."

"About a week ago you and I went to the bank. They called you Kear there, does that help you? Do you remember anything now?"

"It sounds right. Like the piece fits, but I can't place it yet when so much is missing."

"Should we call you Kear?"

"It doesn't sound right, right now. You can keep calling me Lera."

"Do you want to talk about the pieces that you have? We might be able to help."

"My sister is really smart. You can trust her."

Paroppe turned to him giving a confused expression, before turning back towards 'Lera'.

"Yea… I know you two and that… Ayanni… You all look familiar. This place looks familiar too. I don't know why, but it just does. But I know this isn't my home, but I seem to have multiple places in my mind that I call home. Like there is one place that I think is close by from here, I just don't know where."

"You had slept over at my parents house. You even slept on the floor in my room."

"That sounds right, but there are more. More places I call home. Safe and relaxing. Also it's really hot in here."

"It has been a hot day. It's getting late, are you hungry? We all ate already?" Jev answered that as he stood up to get a cup of water from the sink.

"I'm not hungry. No, I don't need to eat… Yea that's right." Both of them turned towards her. She clutched her head as a sudden migraine took over. "Ugh…"

"Drink this and Paroppe can help you back to the bed."

"Thank you… Ugh… Why is it so bright?"

It was dark in the kitchen-living room area. Just some sunlight peeking through the curtains and a few magical lights around the room.

"You have a bad headache. Let me get you back in the bedroom."

---

Ayanni stared back at himself in the mirror again. 'Disgusting!' He thought to himself. Sure Korral was his grandmother's name, but there had to be other people. Plus Lera had forgotten who they were. He understood that much before he left.

"But she said family…"

He remembered that Lera had said that they were family in some way or she didn't understand. No, she knew what she was saying. She knows about tech pads, she is 'giving' money to his family. Why? For what reason could she be doing that? He hadn't talked to his parents in a while, maybe he could ask them.

He needed to control himself. He needed to be careful about what he said and how he said it. Lera was still fragile and was missing her memories. He splashed some water on his face and distracted himself with some silly faces and then opened to the door.

"Are you ok?"

Jev was standing there against the wall next to the bathroom.

"I'm good now."

"Lera has a headache. It's best if she rests for now. Paroppe is with her in your room. I already set out blankets on the floor in the living room for us."

"Alright. Thank you Jev. You're the 'best' best friend in the world!"

"I could be humble, but right now… You know it!"

---

The next morning the group of four had finished their silent breakfast. Everyone had eaten their food while sharing stares at the others. No words were spoken, but a few of them had said enough to be understood with their eyes.

The one who broke the silence of chewing and clacks from eating utensils was Paroppe.

"It's a lot cooler today. We should go and buy an air conditioner for here."

"I looked at my funds and Ayanni's," He received a, "Hey!", from Ayanni, but ignored him to continue, "and there is no way we can afford it. I know you don't have all that much either as none of us have done anything to make money these past few weeks." Jev raised his voice as he turned back towards Ayanni. "Since most of our money was used on staying at inns, when there was a place to stay for free, we had taken up most of our funds. Unless we do a job, we won't be able to buy anything real soon."

"Actually dad gave me some money when I had brought Lera home and I still have Lera's money, but I haven't used any because I didn't want to use her money."

"Didn't you say she had like thirty-thousand gold?"

"I did Ayanni, but I told her that I would just use it to buy clothes. I didn't take any for myself."

"Umm… I don't know what I can do to help, but you said that you had my money?" Paroppe nodded. "You saved it for me?" She nodded again. "Then if I said that you could use it for whatever you want, would that be fine?"

"I took two-hundred gold out of your account and we only spent twenty on clothing for you. Plus what my father gave me, so we have one-hundred-and-ninety to use."

"I understand that you saved Lera's money, but dad gave you ten gold and you forgot to mention that?"

"I was saving it for an emergency. He said that it would be helpful since I was taking care of Lera."

"You took care of me?"

The others looked at her, so she avoided eye contact by looking away.

"Anyway, we should leave soon. Are you sure that we can use your money Lera?"

Jev asked as everyone stood up. She saw that Ayanni was keeping his mouth shut with some force based on the creases around his mouth. She nodded to Paroppe and followed them outside.

---

"How are you feeling Lera? Your head?" Paroppe questioned her as the others.

"It still hurts and the sunlight doesn't help." Her hand was just above her eyes, blocking what light she could. She was happy that they weren't in the center of the city where there were white bricks and the gold inlays on the buildings. That would hurt.

"Do you want to go back?"

"I'll be fine. I want to be outside right now. I want to look at things, see the world around me. It feels so familiar, but nothing sticks. Like a wall that I can see through, 'feel' through, but cannot pass through it."

"What do you mean, 'feel'?"

"When I look at you guys, I feel that you all are trustworthy and safe. I don't know why, but I do. See that statue over there?" She pointed over to the statue at the Heroes Academy. "Looking at that I feel sad and guilty, but again I don't know why."

"I see… Oh Lera you're crying."

She felt around her eyes. They were wet and dripped down her cheeks. She didn't know why. That confusion as to why she didn't know things hurt worse. She calmed herself down.

---

They had to head north-east, past the Academy and north from there. A little shop that sold air conditioners. There were a lot of people out today. Yesterday had been so hot that everyone stayed home to melt. No one wanted to push themselves if they didn't have to.

Then She stopped. She was breathing rapidly, hyperventilating. She looked around at Paroppe that was trying to ask what was wrong. They pulled her off to the side in an alleyway. She was shaking, crying, confused. She felt horrible and didn't know why. She tried to think what the cause was.

In her mind, she looked around at the people she had passed by, the buildings and the smells. Nothing happened until she spotted two children that passed their group. The girl, maybe thirteen or fourteen years old. It was her. Whoever that person was, she wanted to know who she was. Why would she have such an extreme reaction to that girl?

"That… That girl. The one with green eyes. Do you know who she is?"

Her headache was worse and it was hard to even stand. She looked at the group, hoping they had the answer. She wanted to know why and to remember, even if it would hurt her.