Who Am I? (Book 1)

Chapter 5

Who am I? I was lost in thoughts while Julia cooked food. The house was bigger than the others, but the design was the same. "So, this is your house? It's quite cosy, I like it here". The atmosphere was different here than outside ... but I couldn't pin-point it. "Thanks, I like it here too. My brothers also live here". The thought of having siblings was nice, but it also made me curious. "What about your parents?" She stopped cooking for a second and seemed to hesitate. "Gone ..." I didn't quite understand, but before I could ask a man entered the house. He was way taller than Julia and had the same black hair and eyes. "This is Julian, he's the oldest one. The youngest is Julius, he's in his room". So many similar names ... why? Besides, I was terrible at introductions, but this was the worst time ... I didn't even manage to say a thing.

"Hi, I'm Julian. It's nice to ... meet you". We shook hands, and I probably managed to squeeze out "Julie ... hi ...". Still ... something felt wrong, they knew something that I didn't, but they wouldn't tell me ... "Julius! We have a guest and the food is ready!" Julia sounded a lot like the mom of the house and I snickered to myself. "Take a seat". Julian pulled out a chair for me and I kinda stumbled and fell on it. "Careful, it's quite hot". The dish smelled really good and it looked like some sort of mushroom stew. Soon we could hear footsteps coming down from the second floor. A boy entered and he couldn't be older than 14 years. He had to be Julius. His hair and eyes were the same as the other Nightshades. He had short hair, but long side-swept bangs. Those traits had to run in the family, right? But then, why did I have the eyes as well?

"Do everyone from this village have green eyes and black hair?" If it was normal then my traits wouldn't matter at all. "Yes, most of the families from here do have those traits ... because ... well, it will sound pretty weird, but all of us are very very distant relatives. Our family is the direct descendants of the couple who founded this village, but that was thousands and thousands of years ago. Still, I won't deny that cousins do occasionally marry each other." I didn't comment on it, and to be frank, I couldn't care less. It wasn't my life anyway. "So ... none of you knows who I belong to ..." I tried to subtly pry a little more, but it didn't seem to work. "Actually, it would be easier if you knew about your powers. Sure, it's often decided based on your personality and magical potential, but ancestry does influence them a little. Certain powers seem to run in the family you see". I stared at Julius and he seemed oblivious as he continued talking. "I'm surprised you haven't discovered any of them yet, most begin discovering theirs at age 10 and continue developing more powers until their early twenties, of course, as I said, it does depend on your magical potential". It was a lot of information ... and maybe I didn't belong here ... "How do you know I belong here?" Doubt had begun to bloom in my mind, maybe they just assumed everything ... "Listen, I understand your doubt but this valley cannot be spotted or interacted with if the person lacks a magical aura or powers. "Oh ... I see ..." I looked down at my plate and took a deep breath. So much had happened today! I tried to give myself a little pep talk, but it was quite bad: Right, everything is normal, except that I think I've lost my mind and if I ever tell anyone about this they will probably send me to some kind of therapist ... Ugh, why did my life end up like this? Why couldn't someone else experience it instead? 

I was completely lost in thoughts because Julian had to grab my shoulder and shake me a bit to get my attention. "Huh? What? Did you say something?" I looked at him with a blank expression because I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. "Do you have any memories from your past?" I shook my head and looked down. "So, our suspicions were right ..." They knew of my memory loss? "So, who cares, it's not important now, is it?" It came out more aggressive than I planned, but Julia didn't seem to mind as she still had a gentle demeanour. "Well, they are, of course, mostly just personal treasures but sealing away ones memory also seal away your true magical potential and powers". I felt a little humiliated ... Julius was a lot younger than me, but he knew so much more than me ... then again, maybe this feeling was just because of my pride ... Nonetheless, I swallowed my pride and tried to find the words to express myself. "So ... how do I ... you know ... undo the seal?" My cheeks were red and I felt really warm. "You must go on the journey I mentioned earlier. Discover your past and regain your memories, at least the most important ones".