The soft orange glow from the setting summer sun gave the room a warm feeling as it was shining through the large window.

The room was pretty big. It had 3 single beds against the outer wall of the building. On the other side of the room, against the wall bordering the hallway, was a 2 person couch, a chair, and a low rectangular table. We even had a little minibar with water and drinks in it. Who would have thought that I would speak those words ever again since coming to this world.

Lucian took a gulp from his glass of water to process what he just heard. A moment later he looked at us with an expression that had it all. Confusion, question, surprise, shock, you name it. He put his glass down on the table and looked at me and my sister sitting on the couch, next to each other.

As he started to ask his first question he pointed towards my sister.

"So..., You are actually you?" moving his pointing finger to me.

"Yes, that is the jist of it." I said, watching for his response.

"But if she is your sister, how should I..." he stopped with a look that showed his brain trying to work out the words to say.

Knowing what he probably was wrecking his mind about, I interrupted him quickly.

"If you are thinking about our names or how you should address us. That's easy.."

Surprised that I knew what he was thinking about, he looked up.

"If you talk to my sister, you can just call her Zephyria. If you talk to me just call me Zeph. I always tried to live as 2 separate people. This makes it easier for me."

It looked like Lucian understood that logic and asked a question I should have seen coming, but didn't.

"You said your sister's name is Aria, why do you call your sister Zephyria?"

Lucian immediately felt our emotions boiling up.

"Sorry if I shouldn't have asked," he quickly added.

My emotions settled at his comment and noticed how much it still hurt, having lost Aria so long ago.

"No, don't be sorry. It was a logical question to ask but I was not really prepared for it."

My voice was a little shaken but my sister put his hand on my shoulder in comfort.

For some reason, when my emotions take hold of me, a calming hand from my sister always helps to calm me down. Even if it is me making her do it. Maybe it was because she looked so much like Mom, or that I could imagine my real sister wanting to help.

Getting a grip again I looked at my sister and back to Lucian.

"The reason I call my sister Zephyria now has 2 reasons. For a start, if someone were to call me Aria. I might not listen as my original name is Zeph. So it made it a lot easier to trigger a response when my name was called."

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I took a sip of water before I continued.

"The other reason is to never be able to tarnish her name. From the moment I lost her, I couldn't get myself to call my sister's body Aria. It wasn't her anymore. It was me in her stead. How could I call myself Aria? What if I did something to put her in a bad light?

So after it happened and things calmed down a bit, I came up with the name Zephyria. The first part I talked about before and the second part is to have some part of it to remind me of Aria's name."

A few tears started to collect in my eyes as the memories returned from the moment I lost my little sister.

"Well, I can understand why that is so hard for you. But what got you worked up so much when I said you were identical?"

I looked at Lucian and held a finger in the air as if to correct him.

"The keyword in your comment was 'nearly'. You said we were nearly identical."

Lucian tried to remember what he said.

"Ow yeah, you're right. I did say you guys are nearly identical. But does that make such a big difference?"

My sister smiled and pointed at her head.

"If Zeph and I are 'nearly identical' that might mean that Aria is still in here somewhere. That's what I would like to believe anyway."

Lucian's eyes opened wide at this comment.

"Wait, so you think your sister's soul is still in the body somewhere?"

My sister nodded and leaned forward.

"13 years ago, the moment I realized what happened, I thought I lost Aria forever. We all had a pretty hard time dealing with what happened. But after a few weeks, I started getting dreams where Aria would talk to me. Sadly I would never be able to remember what she said but I know I saw her. And it is still happening."

"You still have dreams where you meet your sister?" Lucian said surprised.

"Yeah, but after 13 years I was starting to doubt if I was just going crazy. I began to wonder if that little sparkle of hope that I had, that she might still be in here, was just my wishful thinking." My sister finished.

"And that is where I come in, isn't it?" Lucian said, understanding the situation.

"Yes, I firmly believe that, IF Aria wasn't here anymore, we would be fully identical." Sister responded with a hint of relief that our hope wasn't lost yet.

Lucian agreed with my assumption, though he was aware he was no expert in this subject at all. He stood up and walked over to the window, thinking about something. He then turned back to us..

"It's been tough for you than, being reminded of your sister every time you look at her... body. I genuinely wish I could help you get your sister back, but it is the first time I am hearing about souls and I am no scholar in the ways of magic, at all."

He kept thinking about something when I was suddenly reminded that we would be meeting with my uncle.

"Lucian, I think we should pause for a bit. Sis and I have to meet up with our uncle soon. Why don't we meet up later tonight down in the bar? Maybe we can share a drink together?"

Lucian relaxed and agreed.

"That's a good idea. It has been a long day anyway. I might take a little rest while you are gone."

"When we get back we will come and get you then."

We stood up and we left for the guards' house.

The streets were getting darker as the sun was slowly dipping behind the mountains that mark the border between Silverdew Valley and the Mistral Plain. People were starting to light the small firestones in the street lights. They even looked a bit like old medieval street lights from Earth.

As we made our way to the guards' house I started to wonder if, perhaps, I told Lucian too much.

"Was it ok for us to tell him all of that?" I asked my sister.

"Well, I don't think he's a bad guy. Better yet, I think I would enjoy having him around as we journey for answers" Zephyria answered with a smile.

I know I am just talking to myself, but it helped me think things through and it was practice for acting like 2 separate people.

As we reached the guards' house, our uncle came walking out.

"Hey, good to see you." He said cheerfully as he walked up to us.

"Hey Uncle Kellan, Last time we saw each other you were teaching my sister the final steps of hiding her magical presence."

Kellan looked up, thinking about how long ago that would be.

"Oh right, yeah that must have been what? 7 or 8 years ago now?"

I thought for a bit.

"Yeah, something like that."

"Well, it is good to see you either way. Would you mind joining me in my home? I have so many questions I want to ask you."

I nodded and Kellan started walking down the street pulling us along.

"Good, good" he let out a small laugh of relief as we departed for his house.