Stars Of Memory

Chapter 24

"Excuse me, may I explore?"

The Laial and Liala of La'Vi'Ai look up, startled, before nodding their assent. Jīvitaya gets up from her chair and motions to Laira to stay where she is before she ruffles Kysanden's hair playfully and heads off into the palace. The cool, silver stone of the walls and pillars glimmers gently as Jīvitaya passes, but she doesn't stop to admire it. She is too distracted by the pull that is drawing her deeper into the palace. She follows it deeper and deeper inside until she reaches the very heart of the palace. Momentarily, she feels guilty at intruding in what must be private space, but the pulling sensation in her gut soon sends it all away. She steps off to the left of the doors that likely lead to the royal chambers and continues on into a small chamber. She steps through the threshold, unaware of the small ripple in the air that shoots off toward the royals as she does so.

Jīvitaya treads closer and closer to the pedestal in the center of the chamber, mesmerized and drawn to the large blue egg resting atop it, glowing gently. Her hand shaking, she reaches out a hand towards it, and for just a moment a memory flashes through her mind, of a different hand resting on an identical but slightly larger egg. Then the memory disappears again and she gently lifts the egg off the pedestal. Cradling it in her arms, Jīvitaya turns back towards the doorway and starts to walk out again, her eyes blank. Just before she crosses the threshold, the royals appear with Kysanden, running towards the chamber.

The Liala frantically yells out, "Stop!"

Unexplainably, Jīvitaya does stop, and they reach her quickly.

With a bit of panicked anger in his voice, the Laial speaks, "What are you doing?"

Jīvitaya says nothing, and as the Laial opens his mouth to speak again, Kysanden interjects.
"Look at her eyes, she isn't in control right now, but I don't know what is."

The Liala steps forward, her voice soothing but also betraying her fear. "Please give the egg back. Please."

Her voice hollow, Jīvitaya replies, "I can't."

The Laial's voice thunders, "Why not?!"

Jīvitaya doesn't answer. The Liala reaches out to gently take the egg out of Jīvitaya's arms, but Jīvitaya doesn't budge. The Laial reaches out his own hand to pry Jīvitaya's arm away, but the moment his hand brushes against the egg, there is a blinding flash of light.

~~~

When the light fades and their eyes have recovered, Kysanden and the La'Vi royals look towards where Jīvataya was standing. She's gone. Kysanden looks around blindly before stopping to glance at the floor. His suspicions are correct, Jīvitaya is laying on the floor, unconscious, but the egg is nowhere in sight. He peers closer to see that Jīvitaya looks different. Not by much, but to those familiar with her, it is noticeable. It is like there was now a faint glow to her that wasn't there before. The La'Vi royals follow his gaze to see Jīvitaya on the ground. The Liala looks around Jīvitaya's body desperately, searching for the egg. When she realized it won't be found, she collapses on the floor, tears streaming down her face. The Laial crouches down to comfort her and she leans into him, sobbing.

She wails, "Not again! This can't be happening to us again!"

Kysanden questions her, confused, "What do you mean? What happened before?"

The Laial answers this time, still consoling his wife. "Our first egg was lost and we believe it failed to hatch. It was nearly identical to this one, just larger. We've been terrified that the same would happen to this one, and it seems that our fear has been realized."

Kysanden glances down at Jīvitaya again. "I'm not so sure about that. She looks different and I wonder if what has just occurred is an answer to why we came here."

"What do you mean, Lilar Kysanden?"

"Jīvitaya looks different. Now, before we continue this discussion, can we please get her somewhere she can rest? Because she is still unconscious and that likely isn't good, especially because she is still weak."

"Of course."

The Laial stands up and turns back to his wife, reaching out a hand to her while Kysanden lifts Jīvitaya off the floor. The Laial strides down the hallway before forking off to the left a short way down the hall. Kysanden follows behind the Liala as they walk towards a guest room. The Laial steps inside one of the closest guest rooms to the royal quarters, likely because it is the closest one to where Jīvitaya collapsed. Kysanden follows him inside before laying Jīvitaya down on the bed. Kysanden pulls up a chair while the royals begin to levitate, sitting cross-legged.

The Laial speaks first. "Before you clarify how Jīvitaya looks different, please explain to me why you both are here, as we did not get to finish this discussion before we were notified of someone entering the egg room."

"My father kidnapped Jīvitaya from Earth because she wasn't aging as a human should be and my father wanted to know why. So he sent some of my people down to Earth to take her. In order to take her, they trapped her in a Kindashi to immobilize her. Then they took her up to our main ship. While onboard, she tried to escape but was caught. As punishment, the guards released two Ehthtiur Grubs on her and gave them free rein. If she was human, she would have died from one bite, but she survived many, even if she is still weak now. That's how we figured out she wasn't human, and we have been traveling to figure out where she is truly from. I am quite certain that she is from this planet, which is why we are here."

"Why do you think she looks different now, after the egg failed?"

"Her skin looks like it is glowing faintly, much like your skin, the texture of both her hair and skin looks different, smoother. Her hair looks more full, and that is just what I can tell from her being unconscious. I am going to guess that her eye color has deepened as well, going by your eyes."

"That is a royal trait, so you are likely wrong. How will you find proof that she is from here?"

"I think I even know who her family is, but I can't find out for certain until she wakes up. For now, I'm worried that she will have a set-back from the Ehthtiur venom, she is still recovering even after these many weeks."

The Laial leans back slightly, his face showing a mixture of confusion, worry, and possibly even a tiny bit of hope.

———————————————————————————————
I had this chapter written out for a very long time. It was written probably around chapter ten and sat there waiting. Now it's here for you all to see! What do you think happened with the egg?

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.