The Truth about the Lazuli

Another 50 Questions...

By now, the city walls were in sight. Sophie gasped in amazement at how tall they were. She had always lived in a more rural area of Ohio, where cornfields and open land was common. So to see beautiful white stone bricks standing tall, as tall as 50 feet, was an awe-struck moment for her. It wasn't just a slab of stone either. The wall seemed to have several layers, with arches and designs and columns boldly on display.

"Incredible." Sophie had whispered breathlessly.

"I guess you're starting to feel better," Roan chuckled. Feeling the vibration of his chuckle from his back, Sophie felt her face grow hot in embarrassment.

Before dawn had broken, Sophie had woken up abruptly, feeling the food she had eaten expel from her body violently. Her whole body had been covered in sweat, and her head pounded like she had drank too much alcohol.

Roan rushed to her side, helping her sit up, and even helped her clean up from her mess. It was an embarrassing sight, and both Roan and Celia had to help guide her away from the camp so Celia could wash her body. Sophie had never felt so weak before, and felt ashamed that she had to let someone else wash the sick and sweat while being stark naked in the middle of the forest.

When Celia and Sophie had returned back to camp, Sophie could hear arguing amongst the others. Roan, who was the loudest, had urged the others that they needed to get back to the capital city of Knolham, Arc City, before the sun had set like they originally planned. Sige, who was more calm, refused to budge on his words, saying that travelling would be too hard for the girl who had just vomited and was showing worsening symptoms of the poison.

Feeling guilty, Sophie didn't want to slow down the group. But Sige was very adamant on staying behind and waiting out her symptoms, and Celia had joined in the conversation, backing him up.

"Please. If we don't get the Serpent's Orb to the contractor in time, we won't get paid as much. You know how much I need that money." When Roan had pleaded with that sentence, they all gave a sigh. "I'll carry her. You'll have to be a little more on guard, but I'll take responsibility. Please, we need to make it back before sun down."

And with that, it had been decided.

Sophie felt grateful and yet burdened that she had complicated them. Sige rewrapped her bandages, and had given her some more herbs and tea to help with her symptoms. Unfortunately, Sophie didn't get to ask all the questions she wanted to ask as they had walked. She had spent most of her time asleep, clinging onto Roan like a Koala. However, her fever had gone down significantly since the morning, and her head didn't pound as much anymore. And, since they were now getting closer to the capital walls, Sophie didn't have long until she could finally sleep on a bed.

"Hey Roan, could you tell me more about the Lazuli? Like, who are they?" Sophie had wanted at least some questions answered before they parted ways.

"Hmm, there's not a whole lot of information," Roan started to say. "All we know is that approximately 500 years ago, a woman of great power named Hanako took reign from the previous Emperor, Emperor Maven. The Kingdom used to be called The Great Kingdom of Maven which, well, he was more of a tyrant than a name giver..."

"Hanako..." Sophie had mumbled under her breath.

"Since she took down Emperor Maven, she gave away the majority of the kingdom's land to the neighboring kingdoms and built large walls, taller than any man had ever seen, around what used to be their capital and called it the Kingdom of Lazuli."

"And then what?"

"There's not much else unfortunately. The Kingdom of Lazuli has been kept very secretive since then. They send out representatives every so often to demonstrate their power and keep friendly relations, but none of the Lazuli ever talk about their history of what their Kingdom is like now."

Sophie frowned at this information. While she did gain some knowledge, she felt like she just gained another 50 questions from that.

Hanako... That's a Japanese name. Is she like me? Did she also get transported here? If she had taken over the kingdom, and had kids, it would explain why her descendents looked Asian, and maybe why the Lazuli took on those features.

Sophie was Asian herself, Chinese American to be exact, so it would be easy to mis-identify her from those that were Japanese. However, the issue of genetics would come into play as Asian features wouldn't be as strong in future generations, especially after 500 years. Celia had said that only the people of Lazuli had her features... if they were that prominent, could Asian genes really withstand the genetic lottery?

Sophie looked closely at the crew, studying their facial features closely.

Roan, which she had already seen his face up close plenty of times, looked almost like a prince in the movies. With his beautiful blond locks of hair tied up in a small ponytail, Roan looked like a European prince with a strong jawline and almost v-shaped chin. His face was clear, almost milky white, and far too perfect for an average human. In one word, Sophie would have to say his face was gorgeous. He was tall too, standing well above her own height who stood at a pitiful 5'2". He probably stood taller than 6 feet, seeing as how her head barely made it to his shoulders.

Celia, who's soft hair reminded Sophie of Sakura from Naruto, fell graciously to the side. Before, she had it in a very thick, long braid, but since they had left earlier than expected, she didn't have the time to style it back. Sophie felt very envious at how awestruckingly beautiful Celia was. Her skin, a beautiful shade of caramel with brown freckles splattered across her nose, made Sophie feel like she was looking at a goddess. She was also fairly tall, probably around 5'11", with toned muscles peeking from underneath her sleeves.

Arthur, the one that didn't talk... ever, well... he was the definition of a gentle giant. Except Sophie didn't know if he was really gentle or not. But, he looked like he could be one. He was the most muscular of the group. While the others were definitely fit and muscular, he looked like a tank. And he was tall too. Arthur was the tallest in the group, towering over all of them. His hair, an unnatural green, was short and curly. It was shaved on the sides, so the hair was only at the top of his head. Half of his face was covered with a well trimmed beard, also green, and his head was huge like the rest of him. Sophie really could have found him intimidating, but all the stories she had read had the big buff guy as a softie, so Sophie wanted to believe that he was the same.

And then Sige. He was smaller than the rest. He wasn't that small compared to Sophie, but he was what Sophie would consider a more average height compared to the rest. 5'10" is what she would have guessed, comparing his height to what her boyfriend's height was. He had long, dark blue hair, like the color of the deep ocean, that was tied back loosely in a low ponytail. The hair itself was straight and silky looking. It really felt fantasy-like, looking at his unusual hair. Sige's face was smaller than the others, but his eyes were small and intense. From afar, they looked like beady black eyes, but in the light... you could a red glow from them. Sophie had never met someone with red eyes before, so it was kind of creepy to see.

Honestly, all of them seemed so unusually attractive. Was this how normal humans in this world looked? If so, Sophie didn't fit in very well. Sophie considered herself above average, but not beautiful by any means. She was lucky with her genetics, as she was gifted with large dark brown eyes with a small crease, giving her a double lid look. Her lips were pink and full, and her body was naturally on the skinny, although weak, side. However, she hated her nose, which she thought was always too flat on her face, and she felt that her head was too oval and long. She did have a strong jawline, but it only looked good at certain angles.

"You're staring." Celia's voice broke through Sophie's thoughts. Looking over, Sophie could see Celia giving a small grin at her with a glint in her eyes.

With a small laugh, Sophie replied, "I just got lost in thought. It's a lot to take in, with all that has happened." Celia gave a doubtful look, but didn't push forward. Sophie could guess what she was thinking, that being surrounded by attractive men could easily swoon a girl who had no memories. But Sophie did have her memories, just none that belonged in this world.