Chapter 3: The Name of a River

x x x

I woke up thinking I was on a camping trip.

Seriously, I don't think very clearly when I wake up, and the feel of scratchy woolen blankets paired with staring at a rough wood ceiling convinced me I was in a cabin somewhere.

Huh...but I left the Girl Scouts some years ago, and I don't remember going to stay in Aunt Bess' cabin. Shouldn't I be in the trailer or one of the tents?

I rolled over, and then groaned when a massive headache began pounding inside my skull. I suppose most people my age would assume this was proof of a wild night, but I don't drink and therefor don't get hungover.

So I lay there pressing my cool hands to my forehead for some relief, while trying to piece my memories together. I'd been in a forest...so I went hiking yesterday? I'd also just been to a lake-no, that was Lake Ontario and that meant I'd been at school! What was I doing sleeping somewhere besides my dorm, and where did a forest come into the picture?

...Nevi.

That name rose up seemingly out of nowhere in my confused mind, and then I could remember everything clearly.

Well, Nevi did tell me it was a world I should have some familiarity with. But, dammit, I never actually played Vesperia, I had to settle with watching a play through on Youtube! Ohh, I'm so glad he didn't decide to stick me in The Legend Of Zelda...the irony alone would have killed me.

So I lay back and tried to organize my thoughts. I needed a plan if I wanted to keep it together. If I had a goal to work towards, I wouldn't break down into hysterics. Not right away at least.

Right, so I was apparently near the Shaikos Ruins and Aspio. I had almost no idea what the world map looked like, but hopefully Good Samaritan had a map handy. Agh, what point of the time line was I in? He'd said something about being outside the barriers...so that should mean I hadn't overshot the game ending, right? Barriers meant blastia still worked... But I could be here early or something. Maybe Raven would still be a young idealist in that war they kept referring to. Or not even born yet.

I rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands, and noticed the tattoo on my left hand. It was weird, I'd assumed it was just black before, but it actually seemed to shift through a spectrum of colors depending on how I turned my hand. Each was just so dark it could be taken as black at a glance...

Right, the fairies sent me here on an errand, so it wasn't really important if I was here during the game events or not. If I found whatever Nevi wanted me to look for, I'd be set and he should send me back home. If I did land in the story line, fine, I'd have the added edge of knowing what was going to happen.

That thought made me pause. I knew what was going to happen...specifically to the Brave Vesperia group. Just looking for something-damn you Nevi for not telling me what-didn't necessarily require following the group around. But it's true they travel and see pretty much the entire world, so what better way to search for something that could be anywhere?

That seemed to settle it. I was going to figure out exactly when I was, and if possible hook up with the main characters of the game. Now to deal with my immediate situation.

Samaritan must have been listening outside the door, because the moment I swung my legs onto the floor and caused the bedsprings to creak he came in. It occurred to me that I wasn't sure if he had seen me "arrive" earlier, (which I'm sure looked like me popping into existence from nowhere and being dropped on the ground) or if he'd just missed my grand entrance.

"Are you feeling better, miss?" Redundant question for the sake of breaking the ice!

"Yeah, besides this nasty headache..." He handed me a glass of water, which I took gratefully and sipped at. "Thanks a lot for your help, Samar-uhh." I froze and looked to see if he'd caught that. The raised eyebrow said he had. "Sorry. It's a name from a story I heard a long time ago, and I guess I forgot it wasn't your real name."

"Oh? What was it?"

"Samaritan. Umm, he was somebody who helped a hurt traveler even though he had every reason not to. So he was referred to as the Good Samaritan." I felt my cheeks heat up as I explained this. It sounded pretty half-hearted without explaining the biblical significance, but it wasn't like he'd understand bible references anyway. The man just smiled at me. Hmm, there was more salt than pepper in his hair than I'd thought before, so maybe he's in his fifties? He was also tall and in good shape for his age, with muscles that looked like he'd been very fit as a young man.

"Very appropriate. Actually, my name is really Ludwig. I apologize for not properly introducing myself before, and I take no offense at you naming me Good Samaritan." He took the glass from me and set it on a nearby table. "May I ask your name?"

"Oh, my name is-" I stopped with my mouth hanging open. I apparently had a fairy spying on me, and according to any number of old superstitions, from multiple cultures nonetheless, if someone knows your real name it gives them power over you. I had no idea if Nevi knew my name or not, but on the chance that he didn't I'd hate to have given it away myself. While I was here I should use a fake name, but nothing would come to my mind spur of the moment. "Uh..."

"Let me guess, you don't remember that either?" I hung my head and nodded. Well, let's keep running with the amnesia excuse if he's still willing to believe it. Samaritan-I mean Ludwig-patted my shoulder. "Don't let it bother you. We'll just think of something else to call you for now." I looked up at him with a weak smile, which he returned encouragingly. "How about this, I'll name you after a story I heard when I was a boy?"

"Fair's fair, I suppose, Mr. Samaritan," we both laughed. Then he looked up and around while humming thoughtfully.

"Hmm, come to think of it, you were all wet when I found you, even though there was no water around. Pair that with your memory loss and it reminds me of the River of Oblivion." That sounded familiar to me, but I was pretty sure I'd never heard it mentioned in the game before. "The Letha River supposedly makes anyone who drinks it waters forget things. Ghosts that do not drink from it are trapped in this world by their lingering attachments." He looked back to me.

"I've never actually seen such a river, but finding it would make for an interesting adventure. Maybe you found it and fell in, and that's why you were all wet and so forgetful, little Letha." I stared at him before I realized what he'd called me, and then giggled.

"I don't know if I fell into your river or just got caught in a freak localized rain storm, but I like the sound of that name. Thank you." He smiled at me, but a little sadly I thought. Huh, wasn't sure what made me think that though.

Clearing his throat, he narrowed his eyes at me suddenly. "Now that we're on a first name basis with each other, Letha, I'd like you to explain something to me." He then reached out and placed something on the bed beside me. Looking down, I felt my blood go cold and brain wipe itself blank again. I really wasn't getting any fonder of that feeling.

Lying on the blanket was actually a number of things: my mp3 player and the tangle of ear buds still plugged in, the extra batteries I always carried with it, my wallet with my student ID smiling up through the plastic, the sleek silver cellphone my parents had bought me, and finally the keychain with my room keys.

"Er, uh, I don't remember what..." The words died before I got them all out as I caught the look he was giving me.

"Letha. You say you can't even remember your own name, but you remember an obscure story you once heard? Forgive me for saying so, but you're hiding something."

"I'm sorry, but I really can't tell you." Ludwig stared at me hard, as if willing me to talk, but I could only look down and fidget with the blanket caught in my hands. It was pretty twisted when I finally heard him sigh.

"Alright Letha, you don't have to tell me if you really don't want to. But is there anything you will tell me?"

I nodded. He'd been pretty good to me, so I figured I should try to pay him back for that somehow. Good karma and all that. Which reminded me, I have no idea what dogma means. Other than the fact that it was off topic and unrelated to my situation. "I'm not really sure how I got here, but I know my home is very far away. I'm here because I need to look for something, and I suppose this is as good a place to start as anywhere." I clenched my left hand and studied how the tattoo shifted from dark blue to dark green. "I really don't have much information about it, just that I should know it when I find it, and that I need it before I can go home."

All perfectly true. Funny thing, I'm uncomfortable lying to people, though I can and probably have plenty of times, but if something is true it doesn't bother me how much I left out.

I was still staring at the blanket, tracing the simple pattern woven into the green-dyed wool. So it startled me and I flinched when a hand descended on my head and mussed up my hair. "Ack!" My arms flew up to bat the offending hand away and try to defend my head before I could even think of what I was doing. No one had done that to me for years, the only person who tried was my oldest brother, and I normally managed to block him before he got close enough.

"It's alright kid, I believe you don't mean any bad." "Kid?" What happened to "Miss" and "young lady" and all those other names? Maybe the pitiful child-caught-stealing-from-the-cookie-jar drama earlier made him decide I wasn't all that mature yet. That could be it, a world like Terca Lumireis would probably force its children to mature a bit faster than the typical American teen in order to cope with some harsh realities. In comparison I might not be "acting my age."

While I'd been mulling this over Ludwig had kept talking. "So I get you're going to have to travel around a bit once you leave. You're bound to run into more questions like this and not everyone will be as ready to leave your secrets be." I nodded, glumly. I couldn't keep up the amnesia act long, especially if I fell in with a group while traveling, Brave Vesperia or otherwise. Acting is not my forte. But I wasn't looking forward to trying to make up a story that would hold up to close inspection.

Apparently, Ludwig was thinking along the same lines. "You know...this might not be the best solution, but I've been living out here alone for many years now, and, hmm." He must have noticed the sidelong look I gave him as I was wondering if the Good Samaritan had some weird motives. He cleared his throat and tried again. "What I mean to say is, you could tell people that you're my niece."

"Come again, now?" Was he actually blushing?

"Well, I don't get many visitors, and never went to town for anything other than errands. Nobody still alive knows much of anything about my family, so they'd believe me if I claimed to have a niece I'd never mentioned. Odd habits of an eccentric living in the woods and all that." He waved a hand to show how easily his "odd habits" would be dismissed. "So you can just say you're my younger brother's daughter.

"You've lived alone with me most of your life, so that can cover any holes in what you know about other towns and current events. Don't hear much out here after all. Hmm, we can work out any other important details while you're recovering." He paused for a moment, before saying, "You can rest here as long as you need even if you say no. I won't mind a little extra company." I nodded slowly and then smiled brightly at him.

"You really are a Good Samaritan, 'Uncle' Ludwig!" I teased as I threw my arms around him in a quick hug.

He totally blushed again.

x x x

It turned out I'd been unconscious for most of a day. At home it had probably been around ten in the evening when I'd been ambushed by Nevi, but I'd dropped into the world of Tales of Vesperia around mid-morning. Meaning it was nearly night again and I'd already gotten more than enough sleep. So to burn restless energy I followed 'Uncle' Ludwig out of my bedroom (actually a guest bedroom, I don't know why an eccentric hermit would have one but I'm not complaining) and over to his rustic kitchen.

He offered to cook me a meal, but I only trusted myself to eat some bread and fruit. Oh Lord, how I loved Ludwig's bread. I demanded he teach me how to bake it before I left. We talked while I ate, mostly about him so I could play his niece convincingly. Apparently, even if he didn't go out much and had few visitors, there were still quite a few people who remembered him. In his heyday Ludwig was quite the respectable traveler. So it was a real possibility I could run into someone who recognized his name, and I didn't want to be called out as an impostor.

I asked about the slight limp I had just noticed he walked with, a topic I'd normally avoid bringing up but in this case I figured family would be expected to know about. That's how I learned that he used to be a member of a guild. Just a small one, its main purpose had been as bodyguards and escorts for travelers between towns. He met his late wife that way, apparently she'd been a researcher in Aspio and he'd been hired to protect her while she worked on a field assignment.

"I built this cottage for the two of us when we got married. Sophia was interested in studying the Shaikos Ruins to see if there were any clues why the blastia had been buried. When she passed away I didn't have the heart to move back to any of the cities, so I quit the guild and stayed here by myself."

"How did she, um, die?" Another question I really didn't think I should ask, but did anyway.

"You don't need to know that." He snapped, and then sighed at my poorly hidden wince. "It was very painful for me, I was away on guild business at the time. It happened when you were still too young to remember, and that's all you'll need to know if anyone asks." I nodded.

He waved his hand to indicate the cottage in general as he said, "You'll find shelves of books everywhere. They all belonged to her. Feel free to look through them." I'd like to point out here that Tales of Vesperia uses a different writing system. Or else Ludwig would have been able to read my real name on my Student ID card. If things were the same as in the game, it would still follow English spelling, but I'd have to figure out what the new alphabet looked like. Hopefully I could puzzle it out without asking for my new Uncle's help. Helpful and accepting as he was, I still didn't want to do anything that would emphasize my oddness any more than it had been.

The other issue between us was my clothes.

Funny, at home my parents never took issue with how I dressed. Rather, for years Mom had tried to get me comfortable with wearing lower necklines and even picked out clothing from Hot Topic for my Christmas present once. Not to give the wrong impression, she's also responsible for the most feminine and tasteful pieces in my wardrobe too. I'm her dress up doll. The only point she and Ludwig had in common was their wish for me to wear dresses.

I was wearing one of my favorite casual outfits for temperate weather. I wore this fitted black top, sort of like a real long tank top, with adjustable straps and an extra layer of material to discreetly help support the, um, chest. Not that I have anything particularly impressive there, so Ludwig really didn't need to get so worked up over how it wanted to show a touch of cleavage (seriously, back home it wouldn't have upset anyone but the most uptight spinster). Not like I wasn't wearing anything under it...and over it I had a sleeveless vest made of very light denim. Normally I leave that to hang open, but I'd buttoned it up to compromise with Ludwig's sensibilities.

My pants were a slightly darker shade of blue, cargo styled jeans that were very loose with several large pockets. Hand me downs, fraying at a few seams and worn at the permanently dirt stained heels. Which, surprisingly, were not sneakers for once. My sneakers leak something terrible if I so much as step in a puddle so I had decided to play it safe at the lake and wear one of my pair of dress boots. This sounds like a contradiction, but I'm serious. They're made of some weird water repellent material, with thick rubber heels (that add roughly an inch to my five foot four height) and are remarkably sturdy.

Ah, I also had my denim jacket which I'd left back on the bed. Nothing really special about that, accept for the small silver star my godmother had somehow fixed to the upper right pocket.

All in all, nothing really trendy but not so unusual for a girl my age. I didn't expect it would fit in with Vesperian culture (ugh, I hate the name Terca Lumir-whatever, it's too long) but it's not that bad a culture shock!

"I'm not gonna wear Sophia's old dresses, Ludwig!"

"Can't you change into this one? She only wore this one once before she died!" He held up a green and brown dress.

"No, Ludwig, I don't have a problem with used clothes, I have a problem with wearing dresses!" I'll wear one if I really need to, but that means for a very formal event. There was no way I'd wear a dress while traveling and, I'd have to assume, fighting monsters.

"But you can't keep wearing that, it's improper for a young lady!" Yeah, I merit "young lady" again, though this would probably be short lived once I won the dress argument. And I would win. It's not like Ludwig could forcibly dress me up, he was far too much of a gentleman to do that. I seriously think he'd faint if he saw my bra.

After much pointless back and forth bickering he gave up after extracting my solemn promise to buy more "suitable clothes" at the first opportunity. I agreed, fully intending to keep my promise, figuring that if I hated the clothes I could buy new ones at the next opportunity and sell the others.

Next we fought about fighting.

For some reason this was the easier of the two arguments. He did not like the idea when I asked him to teach me to fight, but was reasonable enough. He knew as well as I did how dangerous traveling would be, and traveling alone would be suicidal if I didn't know how to defend myself. Although he protested that I could hire guards or find some imperial knights willing to escort me I could tell his heart wasn't in it.

Instead we argued about when to start lessons. I was all for having the first lesson in the morning, but he insisted on waiting a few days until I'd recovered more. I won't admit to losing that argument, rather call it a draw and we decided it would depend on how I was feeling after more sleep. Which was the point where Ludwig shooed me back towards my room with the admonishment to go to bed.

I was nearly through the door when I smacked a hand to my head. "Uncle Ludwig?" He grunted in acknowledgment, looking back at me from the door of his own room. "I feel pretty silly for not asking this before, but what's your last name?"

"Oh, I'm surprised I forgot that. My family name is Vitae. So that would make me Ludwig Vitae and you Letha Vitae." He hid a yawn behind a hand. "Is there anything else?"

"Ah, no, that's all thanks. Good night."

"Sleep well, Letha."

I sat down on my bed, thinking. Vitae was latin, and meant "life" or something very close. So that meant my new name was roughly "forgetful life," or maybe "forgets life."

"I just love being strange, don't I?"

x x x

Vitae: vee-tahy (apparently "ahy" is how the dictionary demonstrates that something sounds like "eye")

Letha's name is referring to the Greek legend about the River Lethe. There is also a real river with that name. Let's not confuse them.

Ludwig, besides being a famous composer, is a name that means something along the lines of "famous warrior." Pure coincidence, I swear. The name (like with Nevys) just came to me as right.

No Main Characters in sight yet! Maybe next chapter? (Please don't hurt me)