6

Astera

(One year later)

I don't know what's happening to me. Today it happened again. At lunch, a piercing headache, paired with what seemed like… thoughts. Others' thoughts, not mine. One word floated to the top of my head… manifesting.

After I came back home, I immediately ran to my bedroom. Plopping down on my sheets, I sat back and thought hard. Manifesting - what was it? A funny thought came up, elves. That couldn't be right, what the heck did manifesting have to do with elves? An image of a Christmas elf dressed in a Keebler outfit came to my mind and I laughed. But wait, that seemed wrong somehow. Almost like elves were different… I concentrated harder. I had remembered something, I was sure of it. But when I tried to focus on the memory, my mind gave out, and a piercing migraine filled my head. I tried thinking about school, and the headache faded. Okay, now that was strange. It was almost as if my mind had a mind of its own… I made a mental note to go downstairs and ask my mom about it. It probably wouldn't be much help, though. Normally, she can remember these things even less than me.

Nevertheless, I sat up again and started my daily routine - trying to remember my dad. I had to have one - everybody had a father. But who was he? I had the nagging feeling I had every day, that I was missing something. My mom refused to talk about him, but I could tell that she was missing something too. I took a deep breath and entered my own mind. It was really strange, how I could do this, but I can sort through my memories easily. All of them except my dad. Funnily enough, I can't remember anything about my home life before last year. Anything at all. Neither can Mom. That seems to be almost shaded, somehow. I start thinking of my dad. Who am I? Where did he come from? What was his last name? What is my last name? Everything faded and I came to a letter. M. Then an A. Immediately, I knew something had gone wrong. I screamed as my mind collapsed, a migraine just like the one before.

"Fine!" I yelled into thin air. "I won't think about it, happy now?" So close.

Not in the mood to sulk in my room any more, I stomped downstairs, freezing on the bottom step when I noticed the sky was dark. Had it really been that long? I went to my room for what I thought was ten minutes at most, no more than that.

My mom rushed around the corner, looking stressed as always.

"There you are!" Her voice was weak.

"I was just in my room," I mumbled. Suddenly I felt weak too.

We had an uneventful dinner, microwave noodles and day-old soup. My mom had never been great at cooking.

Then, the doorbell rang. Mom froze, both of us staring at each other. We never had visitors. Not once. If someone wanted to meet one of us, we went to their house. The door slowly creaked open.

Mom silently motioned me to stay in my seat, as she slowly got up and walked to the door hesitantly. Just then, the door swung open, and a man wearing a black tee, jeans, and - get this - a cape. But something seemed unusual. A white eye on a black patch was sewn onto one of the sleeves.

My head throbbed. An arrow of pain shot through my nerves, jogging old memories, but I couldn't see a single one; it was one big blur.

Mom seemed to share my state of mind; she was holding her head while trying to talk to the mysterious man.

"Who are you?" My mom sounded more weary than ever.

"Don't play games," the man said in a raspy voice. "You know who we are." He turned to another figure, just breaching the shadows. "Is she lying?"

"No," the figure said. They seemed disappointed. "Wipe their memories." I don't know what happened. It was instinctive, almost. My mind hardened, like putting up an invisible barrier. I felt thoughts try to get past it. My mother jerked back and closed the door on them, and I knew they had taken her memories. How much, I didn't know.

We sat down, and she looked bewildered.

"Mom?" I prompted. "Okay, what the heck just happened there?" She lifted her face out of her hands, and I saw that she was crying.

"Your father, Astera. I remember everything now… Manasi. He was so brave." I sorted through my memories, and I saw that I remembered too. I remembered my dad; he was an elf. I knew the truth. He had sacrificed himself for me. I knew that my future generations would have a huge burden to bear, but I also knew they could be some of the most influential people yet. I vowed not to tell my descendants about their parentage unless it became apparent. I did not know, at this time, that I was relegating some innocent children to a difficult life...

Fin

A/N: So, last chapter. My friend and I have this theory that we are descended from elves... This was the result. Credit goes to me and my friend Lyric :) Thanks for reading ^.^