I had only just barely gotten everyone to leave me alone and stop worrying over me when Nymph appeared out of nowhere to say that Eirlathion was coming up.

Great. Well, I didn’t actually manage to get any sleep. It seemed like it might be a nice experience now after so long going without the need for it. Might have even been just what I needed.

Oh well. The other conversations I’d had since coming back inside from that chaos were all conversations I needed to have. However, the discussion with Eirlathion was definitely going to be the most important of them. I can’t just tell him to leave me alone for a little while so I can sleep.

I groaned and moved sloppily over to the side of the bed. I could have probably moved in a more graceful way, but I was protesting against my own mental fatigue right now and the irritation I felt at being woken up. So, demonstrating how I felt with my movements felt like just a small liberation to help me feel just that little bit better.

I saw Eirlathion walking up the stairs. Levin and Rolwen ran over to an area a little off to the side and were watching us. We had agreed that since we were going to try to conceal their previous life memories until we knew how Eirlathion would react, it might be a bad idea to have them participate in the conversation. They were still curious though.

Meanwhile, Tia ran over to sit at my side. She hugged me around my shoulder and looked at me with a worried expression.

“Hey, are you feeling Ok now? You still don’t look very good. What’s wrong?” She asked.

I looked up at her with a tired expression and pasted on a weak smile. “Just a little mentally tired from everything that has been happening tonight.” I said, gesturing to my forehead and pressing my fingers against my eye-ridges. I made my smile a little brighter after saying that much. “It’s Ok, I’ll be fine. I still have enough in me for one more big conversation tonight.”

I noticed Nymph, who was hovering nervously over my bed, get a relieved expression when I said that and she immediately flew up to Eirlathion.

[It was Ok. I just woke her up and she said she was just tired from what happened tonight.] She said. I got a little annoyed at this.

“Nymph, did you ask him to come up here?” I demanded.

“Uhh… yeah, sorry. I was worried.” She said.

Great. Is it really that distressing to people when I just try to sleep? I guess it is unusual for me. I am definitely irritated to know I could have gotten some actual sleep if Nymph hadn’t meddled though.

Nymph’s words just now had also reminded me of something else that was annoying as well. I had to use Elven to talk to Eirlathion. Great, more mental effort. I kept getting better at the Elven language, but it still required more conscious effort than just using English.

I held my head. My baby head was still massive by comparison to the rest of my body. Meanwhile, my hands were tiny. Thus, placing a hand on my forehead barely seemed to cover any of it, making the gesture look very different from how it would when an adult did this. It looked more like I was embarrassed rather than reflecting how mentally taxed I was from everything that had happened.

I rubbed my forehead in irritation, trying to psyche myself up. Before I could complete this ritual though, Eirlathion had taken a seat in front of us. I looked up at him. He was looking at me with concern. Why did that somehow feel annoying? I should feel re-assured by something like that, right? This meant his mind was in a good place for what we were doing, but all I could feel was irritation that he was looking at me with the same eyes as everyone else in our little group.

[Asa, how healthy do you feel?] He asked.

[I feel well.] I respond. I am a little annoyed that being short with my response could be taken as a sign of my lack of mastery of the language just as easily as it could be seen as a sign of irritation. Even with the tone I put on it you couldn’t really tell the difference.

Eirlathion looked amused. [The “sikitii” said that you were feeling tired.] He said, having used the elven word for “nymph” rather than Nymph’s chosen name using the English word for her species. [I was a little worried too. I was afraid you might have felt bad after Tia used the blood from you like that. She actually took a whole lot of energy from you. I know you have a lot to give, but I was worried.]

After this, he looked over to the offender in question. [Tia, are you certain it was safe for you to use that ability on Asaren?]

[It was fine for Asa] She said, and then looked over to me. “Should we tell him about why your meditation is special?” She suddenly asked, switching to English.

Eirlathion glared at Tia. [Are you certain it was fine for her?] He demanded. [You do not sound so sure of it. What are you talking to her in that language about anyway?] He said with even more of an edge, and then turned to me. [Asa, is she telling you to keep something secret from me?]

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What is this? Somehow the conversation went in a direction I was not expecting. I had completely lost control of it, but… somehow this all made me really happy. He was showing genuine concern for me right now. But, it looked like it was at Tia’s expense. I couldn’t let things stay like this.

[Ahh, no! Not really…] I say, looking back at her. [She was asking for permission to share a secret actually. It… it’s a secret about my meditation that she helped me improve.]

[Oh, I see.] Eirlathion said. [Well, you don’t have to say any more if you don’t want to. If it is something you needed to keep secret, then I will not force you to tell about it.]

That’s… really understanding of him. Why do I feel the urge to hug this man and curl up in his lap? Well, even if the adopted father vibe is rolling off him in waves right now and I just so happen to be in the body of a toddler, this is still not the time for something like that. We have some seriously important stuff to talk about right now, and that kind of position would not be good for facilitating a heavy conversation.

[Uhh.. anyway…] Tia said. [Because that meditation, Asa will have no problem after I used blood from her. It might harm Levin or Rolwen a little until they learn to use the same meditation, but for Asa I could pull a lot more of blood and she would be fine afterward.]

[I see…] Eirlathion said, staring off into space as he rolled that thought over in his mind.

[Umm… so…] I said with a little hesitation. [You said you wanted to talk to us about something before, Eirlathion?] I asked. Yes, at the rate things were going it looked like we would get more success from letting him lead the conversation.

Eirlathion nodded when he heard my question. [Yes I did.] He said. [But before that, I want to repeat what I said before. Tia, even if you can make that blood potion without endangering Asa, you are going to have to be very careful with whether or not you make that potion in the future.] He sighs and then looks at us sadly. [I would like you to never make it again, but… well, with how things have turned out, maybe it actually would be better if you were to make more of it later. You are going to have to be extremely careful about it if you do though. Don’t make any more unless I say it is Ok, do you understand? That potion you made is extremely valuable. There are people who will try to kidnap the two of you and do bad things to you if they find out about that potion.]

[Ahh… yes!] Tia said in a flustered tone. Meanwhile, I just gave a firm nod in acknowledgement to Eirlathion’s words. He looked over the two of us and seemed to be considering the ways that each of us responded.

[Well then…] he said and then seemed to suddenly grow very hesitant. [Now that we got finished talking about that, I guess we should talk about what is more important right now…] He stopped and hesitated again. He seemed to be carefully considering how he was supposed to say his next line. I suspected I knew what he was about to say and wanted to throw him a life-line, but I was still unsure how he would react to me showing so much awareness at this stage.

[Well, I guess we should start with a question.] He said and then looked up at us again. [I do not know if this question will seem strange or not, but I have to ask. Asaren, Tiaren, how much do you two remember about the life you had before you were born as elves?]

[Ahh..!] I responded with wide eyes. I had suspected that he might know. I also told the others about this, but… for him to bring it up like this! I caught Tia looking back at me over her shoulder. She seemed to have a triumphant smile on her face for some reason. I was the one who said he might know, not her. Was she one of those types who experienced strong vicarious pride when her family did well? No, there was also something else in her eyes. I said this situation might come up, but I didn’t give very specific instructions on how to act if it came up. She was looking for me to lead on this subject now that it had actually happened. She thinks that since I predicted it that now I also have a plan.

Thing is, him suddenly bringing it up in this manner caught me a little off guard. Well, it wasn’t something you could make a plan around anyway. I always was planning to play it by ear.

[It’s Ok if you do not remember anything from before.] Eirlathion said. [Usually it is only fairies who remember that sort of thing anyway. But, I saw the two of you acting in certain ways that made me think that, just maybe, you might have some memories.]

[Fairies can remember past lives? It’s normal?] I said with an astonished voice.

[Yes.] Eirlathion said. [The normal fairies will remember some bits and pieces, but their personality is usually not very stable and the previous life memories don't quite get passed down completely. They do have a lot of memory of the life they lived before, but they do not really know how to make use of it.]

[The great fairies though…] Eirlathion continued. [Great fairies are almost the same as they were in the life they had before. Only incredibly powerful individuals can become a great fairy when they become a fae though.]

Ok, that was crazy. I have so many questions right now, but we do not have time for all of them. This conversation has gotten off track anyway. The point here is not to talk about fairies. Gotta focus back on the memory thing. Anyway, I may have not prepared an exact answer to this question, but we did set up guidelines of what can be talked about and me and Tia remembering stuff from our past life was on the list.

[We do remember the previous lives we lived!] I told him.

[Oh? You do?] Eirlathion said, perking up in a manner that said this made him very happy.

[Yeah!] I said while Tia looked him in the eyes and nodded in order to back me up. [We remember a lot about some things.] I told him. [How to do our meditations is one of those things, and I remember that I had some training on dealing with people and information which is why Tia lets me take charge when there is something to talk to other people about.]

[Oh!] Eirlathion said with a very relieved smile looking smile. [That is very good to know.] He said and his eyes turned serious. [So, I need to talk to Asaren about the important stuff? Well, I have something very important that we need to discuss right now. Maybe you already know some things about it if you are trained as you say.]

[Yes.] I said as I sat up very straight and gave him a similar serious look, as serious as a person can look with the body of a toddler anyway. [It is about how the lives of me and Tia are in danger, right? I also wanted to talk to you about this. How about I start by telling you what I know?]