8It seemed that being with a family, with a mother and father, complete with an older brother, had triggered the memories that had been hidden in the shadowy, cobwebbed corners of her mind. I still remember when she said she had something important to say, that she had remembered, that she would have to leave.
This made me feel upset. No, more than that. Devastated. I wish I could tell myself that it was only a brother-sister bond, but I think that it ran deeper than just that. Whatever it was, I didn't want her to leave. I still wish she had stayed.
She had announced that she needed to talk to us at the end of dinner on that fateful Thornsday. So, after dinner, we had gathered around the crackling fireplace and listened intently to her story.
"Being with you, being loved and cared for, has brought back memories of when I lived in my home, my mansion, with my parents. And now I realize that I will have to leave, and find the home that I fled when the madman came. I now remember my older brother. I now remember my mother and father. And now I know that I need to find the one survivor of that horrid Maysdon, my older brother."
"You...you have to leave?" I choked back tears, which is odd. I haven't felt a need to cry in ages. "Are...you...you're...you're pulling my leg." I immediately resented it.
Ezmeralda started to cry, and then I realized that she did not want to leave any more that I wanted her to go. Pulling herself together, she began to explain.
"I don't want to go. Trust me, I don't. Do you think that I, after years of loneliness, want to leave the only people that ever accepted me behind? Do you-" she cut herself off. A strong wind had started to blow around the house, extinguishing the fire and chilling us all to the bone. "I'm sorry. I lost my temper."
Walking over to the fireplace, jabbing a finger onto the blackened longs, a large fire immediately sprang up and began to glow heartily. We were warm almost instantaneously. "My mother's name was Ilkinea, and my father's was Yejeak. I don't know where they got those names from, but that's what they were called. I had an older brother, five years older than me. His name was Morgan.
"I now know what he was considered a curse to our family. You see, Morgan was very different, in appearances as well as his magical ability. He had nowhere near the strength that I have, but he has about twenty times the power of your average Adept. He had blindingly white, naturally spiked hair, as well as ghostly red eyes. My older brother, Morgan, was an Albino.
"He was considered a curse from Satan. When I was born, they thought my amethyst purple hair was beautiful, while the ungodly white of Morgan's was considered eerie and something to be hidden. They thought my eyes were beautiful as well, with their sparkling sky-blue colour, whereas Morgan's..."
"...were weird and inhuman?" I finished her sentence for her. She smiled at me and nodded, wearily.
"I also had this vast power that entertained them. I had no control over it, so they made a game of trying to make me use this magic for good. Morgan had control, he was six years old. He would no longer be swooned over, his time was up. He was no longer cute, he was no longer their little baby child. I had taken his place.
"He still loved me. I was, after all, his little sister. But that's the reason why, after the...the..." A wave of sobs prevented her from finishing her sentence. I awkwardly climbed over to sit beside her, and gently patted her on the back. I kept my arm around her, for strength and support as she continued to tell of the details of her past. "It's all right," I said. "You're not there yet."
She sniffed loudly. "He turned bad. I looked up to Morgan, and he betrayed me." Her face twisted into one of fury. "I have to go outside."
"Why?" I asked. I hadn't seen her eyes. Now she turned towards me. Those eerily blue eyes were angry. Very angry. You could almost see the sparks flying behind them. The air around her had turned ice-cold. "Just trust me. I have to go outside. Right now."
I led her outside. She turned to me. "I'm going to teleport into the forest. I will not hurt my family. Not ever. I'll be back soon." And then, in the blink of an eye, she was gone.
Moments later, a loud, bloodcurdling shout arose from deep within the forest. Birds fled their nests; you could hear the squirrels scrambling to get away. The darkest thunderclouds I've ever seen formed a circle around the point where Ezmeralda must be, lightning flashed and thunder rolled. People of the village leaned out of their windows to see what the commotion was about, only to hastily scramble back into the comfort of their homes. And then, as soon as it had started, it was done.
Ezmeralda appeared ten feet away from us, panting. "I feel better now. I'm sorry. Did I frighten you?" I was too shocked to respond. My parents seemed worse than I was, which was understandable, I had known Ezmeralda longer.
I walked slowly up to her, and placed a supporting arm around her shoulders. She was weak, she was tired. She must've been really mad at that Morgan. I've never seen such power, never before in my life. The trees were bent away from the point where Ezmeralda had stood.
She leaned against me, obviously grateful for the support. I led her carefully inside, as my mother and father brought up the rear, looking stunned. They exchanged worried glances, but upon seeing that she was making no move to hurt me, seemed to relax a little.
"It's been a long day, dear. Maybe you should-" My mother was cut off by Ezmeralda's...
"No." She took my mother by surprise. "It took me a while to work up the courage to begin this, and if I stop now, I might never find it again." And so she continued with her story.
"Two weeks later, the madman attacked. All I can remember from that certain time is screams, flames, and being thrust out a window three stories high, to land in a pile of bushes. Then I scurried away to the cover of the forest. I never saw Morgan get out, but he could have ran out. He's so fast, my eyes had a hard time following him. I was only a year old.
"And do I grew up, all on my own. By the time I was two, I could fend for myself. I longed for human companionship. I had started to create a bow for myself, so it would be easier for me to hunt and defend myself. I eventually found a town, but as soon as I entered, I was cast out. The rumour of a toddler like myself had spread like wildfire.
"I tried, countless times, to find a village that would accept me. I tried to find a person that would accept and acknowledge my differences, rather than insult me for them, rather than to hurt me for the fact that I was special."
"I'm surprised you ever talked to humans again, the way you were treated," my mother said softly, her voice full of sympathy. "I don't think I'd ever find the nerve to face people for the rest of my life."
Ezmeralda smiled at her mother, my mother. "You are not a child. Do you remember the need to be accepted when you started school? You wanted more friends, even though you already had some really good people by your side. I didn't have a single friend. Not one.
"I was all alone for most of my life. Eleven of my twelve years. Eleven long, long years."
"Why do you have to go?" I didn't understand. She noticed my confused look she put her arm around my shoulders, both for my support and hers.
"I need to find the truth. I need to find my home. I need to find my brother."
"Why? You said he turned against you."
"No more. He was killed, but right before then he realized that evil is not the way. Therefore, he lived on, but as a ghost.
"I will find my brother, and I will bring him back. I will talk to him, and I will find the truth about my past.
"I will miss you, Felix. But I promise that I will be back. I'm not sure when, and I think there will be some people that come with me. But I promise you this, Felix. Brother. I promise that I will see you again."
She wrapped her arms around each one of us in turn, ending with me. "Goodbye," she whispered into my ear.
-If you ever need me, remember how you contacted me at the gate,- she mind-spoke. -I will hear you, and I will come. Goodbye, Felix, my first friend.-
She turned to face my family, her family, tears flowing freely down her face. "I am sorry that I have to go. But I must do what I must do."
And with that, she got up and headed towards the door. Upon reaching she paused, and turned to face us once more.
"I love you all," she whispered. "With all of my heart."
And then she turned and left.
I know that I will see her again. I know that she will keep her promise. What I wasn't prepared for was the people that would be returning with her.
********THE END, for now...A sequel is to be written! It will be a cross between The Albino/The Albino's Return (by Tiamat) and this story. When it is written, you will find it at: ~villagedustmite.********