Stars Of Memory

Chapter 25

Jīvitaya wakes slowly, her body aching once again from what she now recognizes as the effects of the Ehthtiur venom. She opens her eyes to see Kysanden and the La'Vi'Ai royals all sitting around her bed and she registers a slight weight lying across her legs. She looks down at them to see Laira stretched out on her in lynx form. Why was she in a bed, and how did she get there? And . . . are the royals floating? She sits up slowly, hissing from the flare-ups of pain. Kysanden reaches behind her to pile the pillows into cushioning for her back, and Jīvitaya smiles at him gratefully. He leans back into his chair before opening his mouth to speak.

"Do you remember anything from when you were trapped by the Kindashi?"

Jīvitaya's brow furrows. "The what?"

"The Kindashi, the creature that you dubbed 'the blanket monster.'"

The Liala laughs a bit at the nickname for the creature as Jīvitaya responds. "I remember, but it would probably be easier for us to find a way to show the memories if we are going to be talking about them at this point. I don't mind them being seen."

Kysanden turns towards the royals to ask, but the Liala cuts him off. "I have that ability. I can enter your mind and broadcast them to be viewed outside of your mind as long as you direct me towards those memories."

Jīvitaya is hit by an uneasy twinge at the thought of her mind being invaded once more, but she nods in assent. The Liala lowers herself to the floor and touches her feet to the ground before she strides over to Jīvitaya and places her hands on either side of Jīvitaya's head. There is a moment of hesitation as the Liala is directed towards the location of the memories inside Jīvitaya's mind before there is a flicker in the air on the opposite side of the room. The first memory to surface is the fleeting one of a blue egg with a female hand stroking it. As it appears in the air, both of the royals gasp in shock and confusion.

The memory fades to be replaced by the one of the invasion from a young Jīvitaya's point of view. The next and final memory is that of Jīvitaya being made to enter a cryo pod by her adoptive mother. It finishes just before the air turns completely transparent again and the Liala releases her hold on Jīvitaya's head. She sits down at the end of the bed, staring at Jīvitaya as if she had made a discovery and was terrified that it would disappear if she looked away. The Laial is looking at Jīvitaya in shock and Kysanden looks smug; as if he had discovered that an idea of his was confirmed correct.

The Liala's voice shakes as she questions Jīvitaya, her tone urgent despite the instability of her words. "Where is the memory of that egg from?"

Jīvitaya answers truthfully, a bit confused, "I don't know. I didn't even know that was a memory of mine until a few weeks ago, when I was taken."

"May I see your pendant?"

Jīvitaya pulls the necklace from around her neck and gently hands it to the Liala, who stares at it, trailing her fingers over the glass as she gazes at the blue dust and shell inside, before passing it to her husband, who is still looking at Jīvitaya in shock. He glances down at it for barely a moment before he hands it back to Jīvitaya, scrutinizing her face carefully.

Jīvitaya looks at them both, puzzled. "What's going on?"

"What do you remember of what happened after you left us outside?" Kysanden asks.

Jīvitaya thinks for a moment. "I don't remember anything. It's like there is a fog over my memories that I can't see through. What happened?"

The Laial speaks. "We found you by our chambers, with an egg almost identical to the one we saw in your memory. The only difference was that this egg was smaller. The egg was ours and something happened, causing it to disappear and you passed out. I think I might have an inkling of what happened, though."

"What happened?"

"I believe you absorbed it. I think it was always meant to be part of you, and that was why it was so much smaller than it should have been."

Jīvitaya frowns in confusion, her brow wrinkling. "Why do you think I absorbed it?"

The Liala cuts in, her voice gentle. "You're our daughter."

————————————————————————————————-
Who was expecting that? Here's another fun fact. The reason the Kindashi is called the blanket monster is because it's kind of based off one of my own blankets. It's white and really fluffy, and I was sleeping beneath it when this story popped into my head. It made itself the Kindashi.

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.