The Forsaken Hero

The woman’s arm dropped, her composure fading as her lips quirked into a small, playful smirk. One of her daggers appeared in her hand, and she flipped it, balancing the tip against the pad of her index finger.

A tingle ran down my spine, my tail tensing. I didn’t distinctly remember the curved blade, but something in my body did.

”Of course not, my Lord. But, it pains me to say the entire village apostatized. I was left with no choice but to allow another chance in the cycle. I pray whatever world they’re reborn in grants them a chance to atone.”

The high inquisitor sighed, needing his temple with his hands. ”Why is it every single village you investigate has nothing but traitors in it? Do you really enjoy wetting your dagger so much?”

”What? I would never!” she cried in mock outrage. ”Everything I do is in service to the Divine, right?”

”I’m glad to hear that. Now, I’ve got another task for you. A certain family has been... taking advantage of their contract with the church. House Roseburn. Heard of them?”

Roseburn, another name that tickled my memory, and not in a good way. I could just make out the blurry face of a woman, but not the place or when. Perhaps she’d been one of the nobles at the celebrations the Pope had humiliated me in. Or....

I winced, touching my side. Again, my body remembered better than I, but, unfortunately, that barely narrowed it down. How many people had hurt me there, over the last few years?

”Roseburn, huh?” the girl asked, tilting her head.

The high inquisitor’s eyes narrowed. ”Heard of them?”

The other man in the room leaned forward, staring at the girl’s back intently. His hands were clenched in fists, knuckles white. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

”Please...” he whispered.

”Nope, can’t say I have. Are they some small merchant family or something?”

”Hmm, I see,” the high inquisitor said, giving the other man a pointed look. ”In that case, I’ll give you something else. I’d rather someone with familiarity take it on.”

The inquisitor shrugged. ”Suit yourself. I’m not one for politics, anyway. I prefer getting out and connecting with real people.”

”Very well, you’re dismissed for now. I expect a full, written report of your activities by tomorrow night. I’ll have something else for you then.”

The girl saluted and left, not sparing the young man a second look.

”Seen enough?” I asked Jessia.

She shook her head, lips pressed in a firm line. A lock of auburn hair fell loose, shadowing her eyes.

”Most secrets are only revealed after you leave the room,” she whispered, as if to herself.

The door shut behind the inquisitor. The young man sagged, pressing a hand to his head.

”I trust you’re satisfied?” the high inquisitor said.

”How could she not remember?” the young man whispered. ”What did you do to her?”

The high inquisitor tapped the scroll he’d found, his finger landing on a sigil showing some sort of flower over a sun. It was plain and far from unique–almost every noble house in Radia had some kind of family symbol plastered over a sun. But it was familiar. Too familiar.

He said, ”What your parents asked us to. She’s become one of our best, if a little overzealous. I have high hopes for her future. She might even ascend to become a high inquisitor.”

He bent over, holding his head in his hands. ”She didn’t even look at me. My mother said...but I didn’t think...is she even my sister anymore?”

The vision fragmented, cracking like a rock thrown into a window. I jumped, clutching at my chest as a wave of...emotion surged through my soul, overwhelming, breaking my guard. Sorrow, anger, and most of all, confusion. It was overwhelming, bleeding into my heart until I didn’t know what was mine and what wasn’t.

”Jessia!” I cried, turning in panic. ”Please, you have to calm down!”

She leaned back against the wall, hands gripping the stark white paint as if she were trying to tear it off. I backed away as more cracks spread throughout the vision, my heart beating quickly.

”J-Jessia? Can you hear me?” I stammered, eyes wide.

Her eyes were shut tight, her soul wavering, bleeding into mine. Fragments of memories drifted through my mind, but I pushed them aside, not letting them linger. But they demanded to be seen, rising against me like a spring bubbling out of the ground. It wouldn’t be long before they overflowed, and our souls entangled.

A warbled voice made it through the disintegrating vision, the high inquisitor, his tone mocking.

”I’m not sure why you were so determined to see for yourself? Didn’t your mother tell you how they sold her for the rights to the warehouses? Or has old Kaitlyn kept even that from you?’

Kaitlyn? The Roseburn family? I...I knew those names. I knew why they made my side hurt. They weren’t just familiar, but...how could I ever have forgotten the first name I learned upon coming to this world?

Another wave of emotion swept the soul space, this time my own. Fear, grief, dread. A tsunami of cold darkness that swallowed anything Jessia had let slip. The vision shattered beneath its weight, and it was Jessia who cried out. She clutched her head, stumbling through the darkness.

I understood her pain. It was the pain I’d carried for years–the first pain I ever suffered in Enusia.

The darkness wasn’t dark anymore. I blinked away tears, stomach twisting as I recognized the scene around us. I willed the vision to close, yet it refused to listen. Wouldn’t. Couldn’t.

”No, no no,” I whispered, covering my head, curling up on the ground. ”Please, no!”

It was no use denying it. We were before the warehouse. It was the same as in my memories. Towering, looming forests, windows thin as my hand. Two large double doors, headed by the crest of a blooming rose set against a stylized sun.

The doors cracked open. I couldn’t take my eyes from the darkness yawning within. My heart beat so quickly it felt like it was going to burst.

A woman stepped out, the face of nightmares itself. She was tall and beautiful, with cruel gray eyes and auburn hair. Kaitlyn, the first one to try and claim my life in this world.

But there was more to it. She looked...familiar in a way I couldn’t put into words, and not just because she resembled the monster in my memories. Where had I seen those eyes before? Was I thinking of the young man, or...

Jessia stood, still holding her head. ”Xiviyah, what the hell...?

She turned, catching sight of the woman. She stared at her, backing away slowly.

”I know her...” she muttered.

”I’m sorry,” I said, struggling to my knees. I didn’t know if I was talking to Jessia or Caitlyn. It didn’t matter. ”I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.”

Jessia ignored me, looking past the woman into the warehouse.

”A slave warehouse?” Her eyes moved up, catching sight of the rose sigil. They widened, and she took a step back, lips parting in a gasp. ”It’s here! This is it! The...Roseburns? Isn’t that what he said?”

She looked at me, eyes sparkling, and blinked, as if noticing me for the first time.

”Wait, what’s up with you?”

I shook my head, trembling so much I bit my lip as I tried to say something. She frowned.

”So, uh, is this it? Or is there more to show me?”

There was no chance for me to respond, not that I could have. The vision broke, releasing me from the prison of my own memories. We fell through darkness and stars, plunging directly out of the soul space into Enusia. I screamed as everything flipped, grasping for Jessia. My fingers closed around warm, soft fur instead. I opened my eyes, blinking tears, and stared directly into Fable’s worried gaze.

”Fable...?”

I let out a sob, throwing my arms around his neck. I didn’t care how vulnerable I looked or how pathetic. I just hugged him and cried, waiting as the memories slowly retreated back into the depths of my mind. When I could finally breath again, I collapsed into Fable’s warmth, quietly weeping.

After a few minutes, Jessia’s voice drifted through the haze. ”Xiviyah?”

I peeked out of Fable’s fur, tail curling limply in shame.

”I-I’m sorry. It was my fault. I warned you to keep your emotions in check, yet it was me...I’m so sorry,” I stammered.

She tilted her head. ”What? Wasn’t that my vision? Why are you so upset?”

”But the Dusk Chambers...the warehouse...how could that have anything to do with you?” I asked.

Jessia knelt beside me, one hand on my shoulder, looking into my eyes.

”What are you talking about?” she asked, strangely serious.

I shrank back, her hand unnaturally heavy on my shoulder. ”That was...I was...those were my memories.”

She looked at me with an odd look. ”Really?”

I glanced down, noticing she held a scroll of parchment. It was partially rolled, but I could make out the seal: a blooming rose, set against a sun. The crest of House Roseburn.

I looked, mouth gaping open, into her eyes. Gray eyes. Framed by long, Auburn hair.