Chapter One: Vistilia

  It was a dark and stormy night. Leris, son of Leris, paced with bated breath. The screams of his wife in the room that he paced in front of were heard all throughout the house. His own panicking mind meant little to the women in the room next to him.

  They came in and out, their legs taking them all throughout the simple stone and wooden construct. The house had seen many lives, and many deaths. He was a simple man, from a simple family. Yet he was proud, his family had sted a rather long time, and he pnned on keeping it that way.

  Captain and head of the guard in the city of Fraellfae. His pay was great, when compared to average man. Though, it didn’t help all too much keeping his family safe from the fear of the Delivery bed. It was still on his mind.

  Not many people could say that his family had the best luck when it came to their children. This was their third time trying for a child, he and his wife, Wilma. It was starting to look bad for the both of them. She was his light and joy, and he wished to share that love with his soon-to-be child.

  This had been going on for the past whole day. With her screams getting quieter, and quieter. Her vocal cords could only push out much noise, after all. It was a miracle that she didn’t break them in the first hour. He loved his wife dearly, so he really wished that she didn’t lose her voice.

  He had been so nervous that he paced all about the house without realizing. His legs taking him all about the bottom floor, then the small top floor with only two rooms, then the bottom floor again with the kitchen ssh living room right next to the nursey ssh delivery room.

  He had gotten his extended family from around the nearby area to help him with this finally. After all, he feared that it might be him that was stopping the children from being born alive, so he simply had some aunts and cousins help him out.

  Soon though, the screams of his wife died down, and the sounds of a newborn came to the world. The child’s cries were loud, somehow louder than his wife’s at the beginning. He stopped his pacing all at once, then moved to the door to open it in excitement.

  As soon as he made for the door though, one of his retives opened the door, with a slightly forced smile on her face. Leris looked slightly concerned now. His tan face failing to hide any of his emotions in this moment.

  “Both of them all alright,” his cousin said, Bel, he believed her name was, “come look at them,” she said.

  He nodded his head eagerly. His confusion was still there, yet his apprehension was gone. His stride was unsteady, like the breaths heard from his wife. It was in that brightly lit room, not lit by the sun but by nterns, that he saw his utterly gorgeous wife. She was as beautiful as ever, especially when she was holding his daughter.

  Yet, His mood was only slightly dampened when he saw that it was a girl instead of a boy. After all, he would take what he could. Women in the more civilized parts of the republic weren’t as looked down on as this area. It was a simple fact of life in this instance.

  “It’s a girl, Leris,” his wife Wilma spoke, his voice crackly from all the screaming.

  He slowly stepped over, careful not to wake the sleeping baby. She seemed to have tuckered herself out since she had started screaming. He smiled, his little one’s beauty was obvious. He looked to his wife as she looked at the little person she had just pushed out.

  “What should we name her?” she asked without looking up, her gaze locked onto the child.

  They simply stayed there, in silence for what felt like a moment. In reality, it was much longer, yet no one in the room seemed to mind. Finally, the baby opened her blue eyes. The baby giggled at the sight of the both of them, her noises lifting both of the parent’s spirits higher than before.

  “Vistilia,” He spoke finally, “the was the name we wanted for her. Vistilia, daughter of Wilma wife of Leris,” he spoke softly.

  His wife merely hummed in response. Her tone made it certain that she didn’t mind at all. He smiled at this. He loved the name and wanted his daughter to use it.

  “That’s a good name,” his wife finally said, his breath catching at the sight of her surreal smile, “I like it.”

  He looked back to his little girl, his new sunshine. He already loved her. He knew it didn’t matter what she became, he would love her no matter what. If she became a hero, he would be the first to write songs of her. If she became a vilinous person, he would be the first of the henchmen she had.

  It was then that the storm that was raging outside made its presence known. Leris and Wilma looked to the window, then back to each other. The two of them shared a serious look for but a moment. They then ughed. The others in the room shared a smile while looking at them.

  “It seems the barbarous gods are angry at us for making such a beautiful child,” he spoke, his tone humorous.

  “Yes,” she agreed, “that does seem to be the case, with the storm going on you’d think that their king was here himself to yap like the dogs they are,” she continued.

  They shared a ugh then. Their newborn joining in with giggles of her own. They looked at her, then they smiled at her as continued. Her new voice to the world making their hearts sing.

  …

  ‘I have no idea what they’re saying, just ugh to,’ Norman, or rather, Vistilia, thought to herself.

  She had just been reborn. She could feel her own body fully once more, or at least she hoped that she would be able to. After all, not all her body parts are really mature all that much as a newborn. It was truly strange, she still felt like she was in the realm of heaven, floating as a soul.

  She decided then to ignore those simirities, and take in the whole of the room. As soon as she stopped giggling, and started looking around the room itself, though, the people who she assumed were her parents, crowded around her a bit more.

  It was annoying, yet at least she got a good look of them. The one that was holding her was obviously her mother, and had white hair with silver eyes. Which, with her earthly disposition, was strange to her.

  Her other parent seemed to have tan skin, and bck hair. Yet she noticed that the roots were silver of color. To her, it seemed like he dyed them. This man, she assumed, was her father based on the looks he was giving her.

  ‘This is gonna be a strange life, isn’t it’ she asked herself.

  …