Everything was so fuzzy, none of my surroundings fit together rather they were just a big jumbled mess. It was like a jig-saw puzzle except it wasn't complete, the puzzle pieces all mixed together and you can't find at least two pieces that match. That's when you would take a closer look and realize that none of the pieces were from the same puzzle and would never become a whole picture.
I didn't belong here yet I felt a piece of myself call out and be added to this mismatched mixture of puzzle pieces. It didn't seem right; it was as if I would lose a part of myself. A part that could never be replaced or was it that something was taking the first stirs of life in a long time; something that plain just didn't belong. It made me want to throw up that non-existent meal from earlier. It hit me then. I felt a frightening clarity, a revelation even. Something inside me whispered that I knew this place and I did in a way. The picture was coming together and in the picture I saw a grander and, if possible, a dirtier Azirik.
Even in my newfound clarity of this worthless picture I couldn't make out the pointless babble of someone nearby. It was meaningless even in its obvious sorrow. Yet for some strange reason I felt drawn to it and even to this day I'm still unsure. I think it might have been the connection of two similar souls but I'm still unsure…I was losing myself it seemed as if that piece of myself was being removed forcibly. I tried to let out a word of protest but no sound came, I even tried to flail my arms and legs but realized that they weren't here. It was just me and my thoughts, defenseless things against the apparent invader. My mind was left naked to its probing and I knew that I couldn't hide a thing.
The voice was back again except this time I could make out the words. The beauty of the sound was ruined by the mournful undertones and the overwhelming helplessness of a child who could only sit and watch as an event took place, unable to even lift a finger to do anything significant. But I also knew, don't ask me how for I just did, that these events had already took place and that it wasn't some fictional dream no matter what I'd choose to believe.
"Why can't you just go away!" The tear choked voice cried out ruining the beauty of the voice itself. It was like a melody with the beauty and flow chased out leaving only the mistakes and a creaking sound that didn't fit. The girl herself had long black hair with a cute face that made her look younger than she really was. The streak of tears down her dirty fit warped the image and that look of being beyond despair was just sickening. It was as if when you finally picked up the shattered pieces of your heart and glued then back together somebody came by and cruelly pushed them back into the dirt.
There was a man next to her with that cold smirk planted on his handsome face. "Why should I?" says he. "You're an abomination that needs to be kept in her place, if I were to just go away you'd cause harm to everyone else." Which was a lie and even though I wasn't a part of this event I knew it to be so. For a reason I couldn't define it felt as though if he didn't go away a lot of people would die no matter what he said otherwise.
But what did I know; I was just an apparition looking in on their little meeting. To them I did not exist and I was just the presence that they barely noticed and why should I be noticed? I had nothing to do with them and I did not know why I was here in the first place. I wish I had figured it rather than the speculations that I still cling to. Even so I had an instant disliking to the man and it had nothing to do with his words, even though that was a big minus. It was the feel to him, the cruel coldness in his eyes that hungered for power and pain. He had the feel of a murderer, something more than any common thief. And though he was young in appearance I sensed rather than felt the weight of his age and he felt ancient. Later on I'd learn from somebody close that most of them are ancient things. Five, six hundred years is nothing to them rather that's on the extremely young side, to be under a hundred was unheard of.
The girl wasn't saying anything else either. She seemed mighty fragile, which she was except she never lost all of her backbone. Even when she was repeatedly accused of being some sort of changeling that girl never gave up, just packed up and went elsewhere. I liked her, she was always a good friend to me but at this moment in time she was nothing but some sad child. Later on I didn't tell her what I knew, how could I explain anyways?
The man was speaking again, he was saying something along the lines of how worthless she was and it was no surprise that she was cast out…I found myself hard of hearing and I really didn't believe him any even if it had nothing to do with me but she sure did. The girl, I noted, hadn't said anything since her initial outburst. I really couldn't blame her, words were lost on the likes of him…and then I saw it. What had taken me what seemed like an eternity had only taken this girl a mere moment in time to see what he was. I saw the jet back wings protruding from his back covered in a strange mist. I knew the mist to be the illusion that hid them from sight, why I saw and knew any of this was because of my contact with her magick. I never did have any of my own and for a long time I didn't really believe in it.
I blinked in surprise when he vanished and reappeared closer to the girl, his face just holding a tinge of amusement along with that filthy smirk. He was leaning over towards her and my stomach lurched. The man, or demon, lifted his hand to caress the girl's cheek ignoring her flinch. A couple of moments later he dropped that hand onto her shoulder, digging his nails into her flesh with the slightest trickle of blood. The demon's smirk widened as he leaned over and kissed her hard. I tried to look away but found that I was transfixed.
I wasn't transfixed for long. I heard a girl singing with a pretty voice though not nearly as beautiful as the crying girl's. "If you are lost in your way, deep in an awesome story…" My head jerked to the side where I heard the sound and I could have sworn my mouth dropped open. The voice's owner was only a couple of years older than I am yet the sure way of how she held her body and the look to her eyes made her seem ancient. Her hair was unnatural, it was to her waist and was a light purple. She had the classic hourglass shape, was skinny as hell but not to the point of bones jutting, and looked to be five and a half feet tall. She had deep violet eyes and the palest skin I've ever seen, mostly due to the fact that she rarely saw sunshine. She reminded me of that man, but just for appearances sake, but there was a kindness to her that she seldom showed. She was the prettiest woman I've ever seen and a part of me envied that.
She was no longer singing and her head was cocked to one side examining me. My body was transparent as it was before but I couldn't really move it still, it appearing little by little. "What are you doing here human?" I heard her say in a calm, calculated voice. I tried to reply but when I moved my lips no sound came out. The woman just rolled her pretty little eyes. "Whatever."
I wanted to bite my lip out of habit thinking, 'I don't know how I got here…' My green eyes were glued on her simple white linen dress which I somehow knew was something she only wore in dreams. I also sensed the difference between us; we were on two different levels of power and she was on a much higher level. I could hardly fathom its depths.
"Folly," the woman was speaking again and she surprised me by her reply though I guess it must have been obvious that she would know. "People just don't pop into events like there's nothing to it. Especially simple-minded humans such as yourself, who don't know left from right."
I stared at her blankly and I thought she'd laugh saying that proved her point. I felt pure annoyance and irritation a moment later and if I could I would have shaken in my head. It didn't matter that she read my thoughts seeing that it was a nice way to get my opinions across. I paid little to no attention to the man and girl, I didn't even notice him vanishing and the image fading. 'I apparently did and I can't even move.' I wanted to shake my head and take a step closer. 'Besides what do you know, g—?'
"Its Senna, not 'girl' as you were trying to think or whatnot and I can see that much. What do you think I am, dense? I know more than what you'll ever know, so be gone little girl." The woman's, no Senna's, voice still spoke in a calm and calculated way but it grew colder with every little word she spoke. I didn't dwell on it for what wasn't even a second after she spoke Senna shooed at her with her pretty little hand. It looked a little bit ridiculous to me but a moment later everything faded away and I heard whispered words, 'Stay out of my dreams child.' It was Senna and my nose wrinkled. What I saw had nothing to do with her so why did she have to act so high and mighty…Oh yeah…She's the queen of dreams or that's the name I liked to call her simply to generate annoyance from her. It wasn't hard.
I jerked awake, sweat tingling on my brow. I looked around the small room in disorientation. It took me a minute to realize that I was back home in our three roomed home. Now don't think that just because its three rooms that it's big. It isn't. The room that I sleep in is just big enough for me to lay across the room in any direction with an extra three or four inches, I can't be sure for they aren't exact. Besides I'm just using my judgment and I'm uneducated in most aspects.
The other two rooms weren't much bigger, actually the one was smaller. It was the size of a small closet with just enough room for the chamber pot and to be able to stand in one spot. The main room was about the size of an average living room, which it was for us except it was squashed in with other necessities. My 'father' and I shared the 'bed' room, a single matt in which we curled up on every night.
I didn't remember lying down and my dream was getting fuzzy even though it was stuck in my memory. I sort of remembered being in the market but the rest was a mystery or was at that moment in time. A sigh escaped my rosy lips as I pushed myself up. I still wore my rags but I paid it no heed, it was like the style of my time. The only thing was, was that nobody could afford much else except on those infrequent occasions when they had enough food on their tables that they could get some luxury.
"Pa?" I called out as I moved the cloth in the doorway to enter the main room. My eyes narrowed but he wasn't inside, the smell of stew reaching my nostrils. We weren't poor, well not utterly so. We had everything that we could ever need as well as food that wasn't already half rotten. "Pa?" I called out again except a little louder in case he was outside cutting wood and couldn't hear me.
He wasn't my father; he wasn't even related to me. For long time I didn't know why he'd bother raise me when both of my parents were dead with no known relatives, well even if they were known I doubt they'd take in an infant girl. He eventually told me. Apparently he was good friends with my father and trusted him with his life, which didn't seem often to me, and that he didn't want to see his only child go as food for the animals.
I sighed, making my way to the small table. It was big enough for two, three plates with a little extra space, we had two stools for seats that looked worn down and just plain old. I sat down wondering if he was still with that woman from earlier, it wasn't very common for him to do anything like that but it didn't surprise me. I still couldn't see what she saw in him though; he wasn't the least bit handsome with only his startling blue eyes to save him from the regular plain features.
"You up?" A voice called back a couple of seconds later; I rolled my eyes thinking 'What do you think? I was just calling you.'
I took a deep breath saying the magic words, "Yes, Pa." My eyes looked across the room, catching his moving form at the edge of my vision. He was coming towards me from the small room that held the chamber pot looking tired. So maybe I was wrong, he wasn't outside but his business took a lot of concentration. I noticed that he wore no shirt or sandals, just the loose bottoms that he wore on a regular basis. He was in good shape for a man his age, hunching forward only in the slightest. The man was fifty something years old and I wasn't going to ask him what his exact age was.
"That's good," he responded as he sat down on the opposing stool, "You had me worried there, passing out like that." He shrugged, reaching off to the side onto a smaller table that held our few valuables as in a vase of dead flowers and a chipped glass doll. His hand grasped around something small that I couldn't see and laid it down in front of him, palm still hiding its identity.
I looked at him curiously, "What's that?" I asked curiously, eyes narrowing to try and pick out any detail. I failed at the attempt almost instantly though.
"Oh this?" It looked like he was about to show me but his hand didn't lift up very far, there was a twinkle in his eyes that told me instantly that he was messing with me. Oh joy was it working. "The boy who carried you here left it saying something along the lines of 'She can find me with this later on to thank me,' pretty strange if you ask me. These kids nowadays, trying to spur up romance with the mystery of some sort of gift, starting a search for someone who ends up being your neighbor."
"Oh, can I see?" I looked at him innocently, gathering the information into my mind. So some boy carried me here, probable older if he had to carry my weight…Ah I don't remember, I'm probable just being teased.
My 'father' opened up the palm of his hand and tossed something at me muttering something along the lines of 'think fast.' I barely caught it by its chain, the rest dangling uselessly as I lifted it all into my palm. I peered down at it curiously trying to pick out each detail. It was a pretty thing though it looked rather worthless at first glance. It had a slim twine rope chain which was fairly common. Hooked onto it was a small object that took the appearance of a small, flat bowl with a flame in the middle of it. The bowl was a dulled chestnut brown color and the flame was a pale color, the white intermingled with the barely discernable yellow and orange intermingled. It was lovely and it seemed to draw me in…
"Lenore," my 'father' said aloud causing me to snap out of my trance and look at him with that 'huh' expression. "Get something to eat." With that he himself got up and headed towards the now cooked stew.