David pushed the door open, ready to lock himself in his room and practice for the evaluation. He didn’t even make it two steps inside.

  Sophie sat at the table, hunched over a mountain of silver coins. Her eyes flicked toward him, but remained… hollow.

  He froze. “…What’s all this?”

  “We made a lot of money.” She nudged a few coins and kept staring at them.

  “I can see that,” he pulled out a chair next to her. “Sophie, talk to me. Did you do something illegal?”

  “What’s there to talk about?” She shook her head, jaw tight. “I finally stopped being naive, just as everyone wanted.”

  He waited. Twenty seconds, maybe more.

  “I’m not going to judge,” His eyes were laser-focused on her. “But this isn’t like you. What happened?”

  “Hito just gave me my part.” Her voice cracked on the second syllable. “This is how much I was giving up because of some stupid rules and ideas.”

  “I don’t think your ideals were stupid,” David sighed. “Why do I get a feeling Hito had something to do with this?”

  “No, this is my choice.” Her fingers trembled as she arranged another row of silver. “I broke the rules first.”

  “Sophie, if there’s anyone with a pure heart, it’s you.” Anger and sadness mixed within his chest. “You did nothing wrong.”

  “…Then why do I feel so guilty?” she whispered. “I was unfair.”

  “Did you talk it over with mom and dad?” He grabbed her shoulder. “What did they say?”

  “That I should stay safe.”

  David buried his face in his hands. “I’m going to need you to repeat your conversations with Hito to me. Word for word, if you can.”

  “Why?”

  “Just trust me this once.” David pushed at the pile of silver so she’d have to look at him.

  She let her face slowly drop to the table. She spoke, buried among silver.

  David sat there, listening raptly, as she tried to bring up months worth of talks, larger and smaller.

  “...And today, when he gave me that money,” her voice kept getting quieter. “He kissed me. Started to touch me.”

  David squeezed the edge of the table so hard it started to creak, but he didn’t interrupt.

  “I wanted to pull away, I wasn’t ready. Not after C–” her voice broke. She took a few breaths. “But it was my fault. I led him on.”

  “I don’t know how to say it politely.” David shook his head. “He’s not on your side, Sophie. He’s using you.”

  “What would you even know?” She raised her voice. “You’re a kid, still.”

  “It’s painfully obvious from the sidelines.” David uttered.

  She opened her mouth, but he spoke over her.

  “He’s quite a bit older than you and more experienced.” He just rambled on. “All he had to do was make you doubt yourself. Make you believe one tiny slight of yours excuses ten major ones from him.”

  Her brows creased, but David paid no mind to her reactions.

  “You’re not at fault. You did nothing wrong. He just wants you to believe that. You have to get away from him.”

  “How do you know all that?” Her eyes flicked up to his, searching. “You’re talking about life experience. Things adults never told me. And you call them painfully obvious.”

  David swallowed.

  “Just…” Sophie took a deep breath. “Who are you?”

  David looked around, his heart speeding up. Every cell of his body screamed danger.

  And though the walls were closing in around him, he just couldn’t bring himself to lie to her anymore.

  “I don’t really know,” he said, quietly. “Sometimes I just… remember things. Like I lived once. And died. And lived again.”

  “What?” Sophie blinked. “Since when?”

  “About nine,” he said. “That’s when those memories started to come back.”

  “That’s just—” She let out a laugh that broke halfway through and turned into soft tears.

  “Just what?” David leaned closer, panic fluttering in his stomach.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  ”You’re joking, right?” She wiped her face with the heel of her palm, breath shuddering. “Am I dreaming?”

  “I-I’m not.”

  “What do you remember then? Who were you before you died? Some big-shot noble? A mage? Is that why Aura says you’re talented?”

  “N-no,” David muttered, looking away. He scratched at the table to have something to do with his hands. “I think it was a different world. We didn’t have magic, just some complicated machines.”

  “Machines?” Sophie sniffled. “What’s that?”

  She leaned her elbows onto the table. They slid across the silver and sent a cascade of coins to the floor.

  “I don’t understand.” Her tears mixed with hysterical laughter.

  “It’s a very long story,” David forced a chuckle.

  “Do I look like I have better things to do?”

  “I don’t know how to explain it.” David thought for a moment. ”For example, I used to work making massive metal birds–”

  “Doing what?”

  “You could get inside of those birds, and cross weeks of travel in less than an hour.”

  Sophie’s eyes widened and her mouth hung a bit. “And you know how to make one?”

  David scratched his head. “Vaguely. But I have never even seen the most important materials in this world, let alone in amounts needed for construction.”

  Sophie pushed her finger through the silver, drawing shapes in the pile of money, as her face grew more serious. “You’re very attached to those memories, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah.” David nodded. “I’ve spent twenty seven years there.”

  “You must have had a family there too. Did you love them?” She said, almost silently. “And what am I to you? Are you really my brother, or do you just humor me?”

  “I–” David stammered, completely caught off-guard. “There was some deception mixed in at first.”

  “Wh–” Sophie raised her voice, but David cut her off, grabbing her shoulders.

  “Sophie, to me, It's absolutely real. You’re like a little sister I never had.” His heart grew tighter, and he felt tears pushing at his eyes, though he stopped them. “And I was honest when I promised you. I’d never hurt you, or let anyone else do that.”

  Sophie sat there, her eyes glossy. She clutched the small hand on her shoulder, then pulled David into a hug.

  He was confused for a second, but returned the hug.

  “What about Aura and Bert?” She asked, sobbing over his shoulder.

  David bit his lip. “Aura is the only person I’d ever call a mom.”

  Sophie waited a bit, but David clammed up.

  She nudged his shoulder.

  “And Bert?”

  “I don’t know what to say. He’s a good person. Reliable and helpful. But I just can’t see him as family. Not with how he hamstrings Aura every time.”

  “That’s… cruel to say.” Sophie exhaled, pulling away from him. “He cares about the two of you more than you could imagine.”

  “Maybe.” David shrugged, “But if that’s his love, it’s just suffocating.”

  “It’s a shame.” Her eyes searched for something in the empty space behind him. “I really want all of us to be a happy family.”

  “I want that too, despite how it looks.” His shoulders tensed. And yet, Marco is still just a persona.

  “When you spoke of those memories, at first I thought, maybe you are like me. You had a family once, lost it, but found a new one.” She spoke up again. “But that’s not how it is, is it?”

  David's mind went back to Grainwick. To Sophie searching for her parents among the ashes. Comparing that to his story felt heretical at best.

  “Not quite.” David shook his head. “In all my memories, I only ever loved a single person. Not my mother, not my father, but my fiance, Marie.” This time, the tears made it to his eyes and he couldn’t stop them.

  “Something happened to her?” Sophie took his hand and cradled it. “Who was she?”

  “Everything was looking up for us. We were supposed to have our happily ever after.” David stammered out through tears. “Until they came for us. I don’t even know who they were, but they—” He broke up in sobs. It took him a minute to recollect himself.

  She squeezed him gently. “You don’t have to—”

  It’s been eleven years. I should be over it.

  “No, it will be better if I do.” He took a deep breath. “But it’s not a pleasant story”

  “It’s okay.”

  He gave her an uncertain look, but eventually spoke. ”Marie was something like a noble back then, making rules and ordering people around. And on the day of our engagement, bandits came for us. She…”

  The sadness in his chest evaporated as he spoke, leaving only emptiness.

  “She was tortured and raped to death in front of me.” David said, like he was repeating a formula for a potion. “I fought until my body refused to move, but I was powerless to stop it. I took my own life immediately after.”

  Sophie’s hand wilted, terror briefly crossed her face. She hugged him and cried for him. For the fate of a woman she had never met.

  “It’s okay.” David squeezed her tight. “I won’t let that happen again.”

  It’s about time I stop holding onto the past.

  “I wanted to say it before...” Marco let out a hollow chuckle. “I’ll help you with Hito.”

  She looked up at him, her lips trembling.

  He brushed her hair. It was a comical sight, of a child cradling an adult, if you didn’t know the context.

  “If you say I need the help, I probably do.” She wiped her tears. “But don’t you want to talk about Marie some more?”

  “No,” He bit his lip hard enough to taste blood. “No good will come from that.”

  She looked down, straight into Marco’s eyes. “And what will you do about him?”

  “Get him to leave you alone.” He shrugged. “Whatever it takes.”

  “Are you sure this is the right way?” Sophie looked away.

  “Look how much he hurt you when you just wanted him to stop taking bribes,” He smoothed out her disheveled hair. “What do you think he might do when you try to cut him off completely.”

  “But still, I’d never do something like that.”

  “I know. That’s why you have me.”

  Da– Marco quietly closed the doors to his room and immediately slid down to the ground.

  His pounding heart threatened to deafen him.

  He did it.

  He had finally told someone his secret.

  Sophie took it well, all things considered, though Marco was sure she still didn’t quite believe him.

  Though he didn’t regret it in the slightest, it left him rattled.

  Not the best moment, when the next morning he was going to be evaluated.

  But days like these, days where he could make a difference, were exactly why he worked so hard to grow stronger.

  And now it was time for Marco to prove himself.