log: amara, amanda and lucius aquilla.

[x-volcanic.livejournal.com]

backdated! Amara and Amanda explain to Amara's father the full story of Nova Roma's origins and why people are having strange dreams and old memories are surfacing.

Amara had fled home to Nova Roma to escape what had happened in London, but she'd come home to a similiar problem. All across Nova Roma, people were remembering old lives. Selene's death had unlocked more than Amara's memories, and they didn't have an Amanda to work out what was going on. Or at least they hadn't before now. When Amara had discovered what was happening, she'd asked Amanda if she could explain the story to her father, so that the citizens of Nova Roma could start to understand what was happening.

Lucius Aquilla was a tall, proud man, but recent events had aged him rapidly. Shoulders hunched slightly, his face showed the little sleep he'd been getting, and Amara was sure his hair was greyer than it had been last time she was here.

They all sat at the Aquilla's dining table, the frequent guests having been cleared out for this talk. Amara sat at her father's side, her hand holding on tight to his. This wasn't going to be an easy story to hear.

"My daughter says you can explain these... strange dreams." Lucius' voice was a rumble as he focused on Amanda. It was more than just dreams, but he didn't know how to admit that.

Amanda resisted the urge to squirm. There were times she didn't feel half as grown-up as she seemed, and telling people horrible news about what they thought was their lives was one of those times. "They aren't dreams, not exactly," she began. "They're memories. Of who you were before Selene had you brought here and your memories wiped."

"Before?" Lucius looked puzzled again, turning to his daughter with a questioning expression. Amara squeezed his hand, taking a deep breath. It would be easier for her to let Amanda do all the talking, but instead she opened her mouth, starting to help explain.

"Nova Roma... it isn't exactly real. Obviously it's here, but it was created by Selene, over a decade ago, and populated with people she kidnapped from various other locations." She looked over to Amanda again. "With magic, yes? That's how she did this."

Amanda nodded, face clouding slightly. "With magic, yeah. Selene had a knack for messing about with people's memories, creating new ones, wiping out the old." Even now, she could remember seeing Manuel's mind being wiped as clear as if it were happening all over again. "She... used this place as a practice ground, to work out the kinks as it were. None of you is who you think you are - you all had lives before Nova Roma and that's what everyone's experiencing, now Selene's dead."

Lucius slumped in his chair, the dignified facade breaking a little. The explanation helped, in a way, but at the same time just made things even more complicated.

"Thank you Amanda, Amara." He pulled his hand away from Amara's, folding it over his other one. "If you don't mind, I would like some time alone to think about this." He attempted a faint smile for his daughter. "I think there are some friends who would like to see you, Amara."

It was a dismissal, Amara knew, and she just nodded, pushing herself up from her chair. "I will be close by, if you need anything else." She looked over at Amanda, tilting her head slightly to indicate that they should leave.

The witch nodded, catching the cue. "Anything I can do to help..." she began, not sure where she was going with the words. "Anything," she repeated and followed Amara to the door.