Of Thousand Lives

Leviathan - Chapter 13: Identity

  The sunlight that slithers into the room through the window wakes me up from my sleep. I sit up. Our hands are still holding one another. I let go slowly, carefully getting out of bed so as to not wake her up. Letting out a small yawn, I go out of the room quietly. The smell of food instantly enters my nose as soon as I step out. Invited by the aroma, I swiftly brighten up, close the door behind me gently, and go downstairs. Hearing my footsteps, Raven averts his gaze from the stovetop to look at me, "Ah, good morning. I'm cooking some eggs and toast, with a side of strips of meat. Did the smell wake you up?". I approach him, looking at the pan, "Yeah, a bit. Looks good. Enough for all four of us?", I inquire. "Me and Amily had a bite, only for you two now.", Raven flicks his fingers, putting out the fire under the pan immediately. The elf picks up the ripping hot pan with his hand and steam then comes out of his skin, seems like he's doing that trick again. Then he transfers the food onto a plate, dividing the meal equally for both Natalia and I. Raven hands me the plates, "Here, bring them to Natalia.". After taking them, the man swirls his hand around a few times, opening a cabinet and levitating two forks to the plates and placing them down, one each, and then the cabinet promptly closes up all in one clean motion. "Sure is convenient to have magic..", I mutter. He chuckles softly, "I get lazy from time to time, usually I don't rely on magic this much, it's nicer to use your own muscles. Ah, speaking of magic. How's your progress?", the elf then inquires, raising an eyebrow at me. Damn, I totally forgot about that. "Well.. Not much, but I'm not giving up just yet.", I give him a reassuring smile. "Alright, just let me know whenever you have any troubles. Better go before the food goes cold.", Raven smiles back and gives me a nod. "Right.. Thanks for the food.", I immediately turn around then go upstairs carefully, lest I drop these plates. Looking at the food already makes my stomach rumble. I can't wait to dig in, but I gotta hand a plate to Natalia first. I turn the door handle with my elbow and open the door. Natalia's still snoozing soundly, she does look cute when she's sleeping. I place down the plates on top of a nightstand. "Natalia, wake up.", I pat her shoulders gently and shake her a little. The girl makes a little sound, opening her eyes a little, then she takes a good stretch. "Good morning...", she mutters, sitting up and reaching for her glasses to put them on. Natalia smiles subtly at me, then looks at the plates on the table. "Oh.. Did you make breakfast?", she asks me, pointing weakly at the food. "Ah, it ain't me. It was Raven.", I shake my head. The girl nods slowly, "Then I assume that you brought the food here.. Thank you nonetheless.", after she's done talking, she leans over for a little smooch on my cheek. Seeing my face getting flushed with red, Natalia lets out a little giggle whilst straightening out her messy bed hair. "Okay, let's eat, yes?", the girl places one of her hands on my shoulder to catch my attention. "Yeah.. Sure.", I nod, immediately grabbing a plate to hand it over to her. Natalia takes it and we both begin chowing down on our meals. "Hey, Anom, say 'Aah..'.", she says, holding out her fork towards me with a piece of meat on it. I open my mouth, as Natalia forkfeeds me the food. She laughs a little, "You're silly..", and she nudges my arm. I laugh with her as well, then continue with eating. We both finish up soon after. "That was good. Raven's a good cook.", I say, letting out a small sigh, satisfied with this meal. "Yeah, he really is.", she nods, putting her empty plate away, then stands up from the bed. "I'll go change, if you don't mind. You can go downstairs first, I'll bring these plates down when I'm done.", Natalia opens her bag, taking out the outfit that she's going to wear today. "Alright, I'll go first.", I nod, standing up as well, stacking the empty plates on top of each other to make it easier for her to carry down later on. She sees me off with a smile. I head out, making my way downstairs to the living room. As I round the corner, Raven and Amily are already sitting with each other, whilst the woman cradles her child in her arms. "Hello, miss Amily. Hey, Raven.", I wave at them, lowering my voice a little in case the child is sleeping. "Ah, you must be my husband's friend. Hope you're enjoying your stay here.", Amily looks away from her offspring for a second to see me, then she gives me a brief smile, before looking back at the child again. "She reminds me a lot of my youth, I slept a lot back then. Even on days where there was work to be done.", Raven chuckles softly at himself, caressing the little girl's cheeks gently. Soon after, Natalia peeks her head around the corner. The girl shyly walks around the corner in a cute and casual white dress. "Hello, miss Amily.", the cat girl bows down to greet the lady. Amily looks up again, her expressions brightening up a little upon seeing the girl, "Natalia? I haven't seen you in ages.", the lady smiles softly. "Yes.. It's been a while. I've always looked forward to seeing you again.", Natalia stands upright now with a little smile forming on her face. The girl looks over at the child in the lady's arms, "She's so cute.. She has elf ears from Raven..!", she mutters, her eyes sparkling with awe and joy as she goes over to pat the baby's head. "Yeah, I guess she counts as an elf.", Amily nods and chuckles to herself. "Ah, today we're going shopping for some beach clothes. We thought it'd be appropriate to invite you both to go shopping with us.", the lady looks up at us both, asking for our opinions. "Oh, that would be nice. I rarely go shopping for new clothes.", Natalia replies then looks at me, waiting for my answer just like Amily. "Yeah, sure.", I nod. "Great. Then, let's get going now, yeah?", Raven takes a deep breath and then stands up. Seeing which, Amily does it as well, carefully rearranging the soft towel that envelopes her child. He snaps his fingers and now we are on the streets of Cerula once more. This part certainly looks more modern, it seems like we are at the 'new' districts of the port. "Does this affect the baby?", Natalia asks, concerned for the wellbeing of the child. "Well, she didn't vomit when I did a short distance teleportation, so I guess she already has an innate ability to comprehend the surrealism of Space magic.", Raven shrugs, following lady Amily, who has already set off first. We begin following them both, sometimes eyeing the buildings that we pass by. Everything is eye-catching here, the streets look so glamorously and proudly decorated, blooming with modernity which masks a long history behind it. We eventually arrive at a store and before stepping in, the married couple turns to us. "We're gonna split up. Natalia and Amily will go shopping in the women's section, while you and I are gonna have to go through ours.", Raven points at me whilst the two females enter the clothing store first. "I never liked shopping, especially if it's for clothes.", I let out a small sigh, taking a quick glance at Natalia before she disappears behind a corner along with Amily. "Me too. I'm too lazy to choose. So I usually buy the same outfit a few times over.", the elf lets out a small chuckle before stepping inside the store. I follow him inside. In here lies.. a bunch of clothes. Pants, dresses, skirts, shirts, jackets, shorts, you name it. All here. I can safely conclude that this is indeed a clothes store. A young saleswoman behind the counter looks at us with a little smile, welcoming us into her shop. I give her a quick nod before turning to Raven. "What are we looking for, exactly?", I ask, following him deeper into the store, eventually going between the rows. "Swimming outfits. We're gonna go to the beach tomorrow, that's why Amily and I go shopping for clothes today. Mostly for you two, we already have ours at home.", we stop at the shorts section as he finishes talking. "So please, choose whatever you see fit. I'll cover up the expenses.", he gestures towards the clothes on sale whilst stepping aside to make room for me to look at the goods. "Ah.. Okay. These, please.", I nod to him and immediately pick out a black pair of shorts. "That was pretty quick. Good choice too. Welp I'm sure you've made up your mind on this one. Let's go buy these for ya.", he raises his eyebrows in amusement then takes me back to the counter again. She looks at the shorts in Raven's hand for a short while, then looks at him. "That would be 9 Straodes, please.", the girl looks at Raven intently. The elf hands her the paper money of 9 Straodes or more. "Keep the rest of the money, I'm paying for someone else too. If there are any leftovers, they're yours.", the saleswoman's eyes lit up as she receives the cash. "Th- Thank you!", she bows down in gratitude, it must be a lot for her to react like this. "No prob.", Raven chuckles and nods. After putting the money away under the counter, the girl hands us a paper bag to put the pair of shorts in. We take it and put our bought goods inside. As timely as it can be, Amily and Natalia both arrive at the counter not long after. The cat girl waves at me. "I was paying for this lady over here. Should be more than enough, right?", the elf, after seeing his wife round the corner, turns to the girl behind the counter again, inquiring. "Yes, sir!", the girl eagerly answers, then brings out another paper bag for us. "Alright, thanks for everything. Have a good day, we'll be leaving now.", the elf takes the bag and gives it to Amily, before snapping his fingers and teleporting us back to his house. "You'll love how gorgeous she's going to look. Her choice of clothing was incredible.", Amily nudges my arm and whispers to me with a little soft giggle at the end. I turn to Natalia immediately and she turns away with beet red cheeks as soon as she notices my gaze. Lady Amily hands the girl the bag and goes to Raven, off to their little conversations again.

[. . .]

  After a long day and a filling dinner at Raven's home made by the married couple, I go upstairs and close the door behind me. Jeez.. All I really want is a good sleep now. Lightheaded, I slowly stumble my way to the bed and lean over, letting gravity take the wheel, as my body falls down onto the bed like a cut down tree. The warmth of the bed sheets slowly brings me into my sleep. "Anom.. I hope you don't mind, but can I ask you something?", Natalia's inquiry suddenly wakes me up. She seems surprised by how startled I look. "Ah, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were trying to sleep. I'll ask again tomorrow when I can.", the girl quickly follows up, patting my shoulder with a nervous smile on her face. "No, it's okay. What is it that you're trying to ask me?", I rub my eyes, insisting that she should ask now when I'm still not asleep. She lets out a small sigh, relieved that she has my pardon then asks, "People call you The Anomaly.. but what is your name really? I hardly believe that it would actually be your name..", Natalia fidgets with her hair, curling the bangs around her finger as she turns to look at me. "It's a weird name. Parents named me Justice. Full name's Justice Juvenlium so colleagues call me JJ.", I answer her, now flipping over to lay on my back. "I can tell you more about me, if you want.", feeling wide awake, I press on. "Oh, I'd love to know you better.", she replies with an excited look on her face, looking at me intently. As the night progresses, I share my information about myself, including my origin, my past, etc. to Natalia. The girl keeps a keen ear for my story all the way through, paying her utmost attention to me and what I say. "Justice.. You've been through a lot.", the girl softly mutters with blankets slightly covered all over her head. "Raven says that names can define someone's personality, or their destiny, even. I wonder if it's the case for you, because your name is meaningful to me.", Natalia lets out a small yawn, it seems like she's getting tired and it makes sense because it's getting quite late. I smile and nod subtly with a soft exhale. "Let's go to sleep now. Good night, Natalia.", I snuff out the only lit candle in the room and give her a little kiss on the forehead before going to sleep. Something tells me tomorrow is going to be a long day.