Sol felt as if she dreamed for a hundred years in one go. Memories of figures she thought she could recognize flashed through her mind, yet their forms remained strangers to her despite her effort. Scenes of vague events she couldn’t understand continued to play in a disordered mess with Sol as the only viewer.

The events were jumbled together and followed each other with seemingly no relation to each other. Sol soon found a scene she recognized, though it lasted for only a brief moment. As soon as she recognized it, the scene detonated in a glorious light that blinded Sol. All that remained was an encompassing darkness where even her hand was invisible.

Surrounded by the abyss, Sol’s heart-rate spiked and she felt herself start to panic. Her breathing hastened and she found herself light headed. Within the depths of that darkness, Sol suddenly felt a familiar presence, yet her heart rate only increased.

“NO!” Sol screamed immediately after recognizing that figure. Her eyes opened and an unfamiliar room. Her brow was soaked in perspiration and her clothing was practically glued to her form. Unable to understand her current situation, Sol remained trapped in the boundary between dreams and reality.

The panic that she dreamed of was still assaulting her and she failed to recognize her new surroundings. While regaining her mind, a refined door created with excellent woodworking skills was thrown open without care.

Two figures Sol couldn’t recognize barged in. Though her mind was in chaos from her dreams, Sol had regained enough of her mind to at least identify the intruders were a man and woman. The two strangers exchanged glances with Sol after realizing she was alone in the room.

The woman nudged the man and he moved to the side to allow the woman past him. Evenso, Sol could tell the man was ready to act if she tried anything funny. Sol had already realized she was awake and the previous events were a dream. Sadly, the abrupt interruption of the two individuals allowed the dream time to fade from her memory.

Though frustrated at her faulty memory, Sol moved on to the matter at hand. Her heart-rate slowed back down to normal and her clever eyes returned. The woman cautiously approached Sol and pulled a chair out from a nearby desk to set half a meter from the bed.

Observing her carefully, Sol judged the woman to be middle aged and a Master Assembler likely in the late solid stage. Brown hair, brown eyes, and a lightly tan skin tone summed her up aptly. Her clothing was decorated with fine embroidery and sectioned into an upper and lower part. The look and design gave Sol the overall feeling of tribal, yet graceful.

Behind the woman was a man of similar tone and clothing, however she could tell the man’s clothing was more functional as well. The man was similar to the woman at the late solid stage for Master Assembler, however he carried a piercing pair of green eyes that Sol could feel analyzing her.

“Ist der leiv amial ze luv hertz?” Though she suspected it, Sol confirmed her first barrier, language. She had already thought up hundreds, maybe even thousands of scenarios during her time alone and not sharing a common language was one of the more obvious ones.

Tilting her head in confusion, Sol tried to interpret the meaning of the sentence based on the woman’s expression and tone. Considering the situation and concern in the woman’s eyes, the question was somewhat predictable.

“My name is Sol… Well, just Sol for now. Can you understand me?” Though the odds were small, Sol attempted to communicate in what she knew. The woman only looked at Sol with subtle surprise before glancing at the man. Were they married? It was difficult to tell. Sol remained observant while the two conversed while ignoring her. Well, she wasn’t too concerned about that. If they wanted her dead, Sol was practically halfway there when they found her. There was no need to wait.

The two seemed to finish their talk and the woman turned back around. She pointed to herself and said “Lillica”, then pointed at the man before saying “Arnold”. ‘So we start there?’ Sol couldn’t help but wryly smile. Pointing at the two, Sol repeated “Lillica, Arnold” while confusing the two on purpose.

The supposed couple stared blankly at her before Lillica repeated the phrase once more with her pointing. Sol nodded in response and pointed at her, “Sol”. The two repeated her name and the first step in communication was achieved.

Over the next few days, Sol spent her time with the woman, Lillica learning the local language. As an Assembler, Sol’s brain was already beyond what a normal human brain was capable of. After taking the first day to sleep, she managed to learn the words for basic items around the house and had a vague understanding of how to construct sentences.

Nearly a week later, Sol was capable of simple, child-like sentences. Capable of basic communication, she practically begged Lillica and Arnold to allow her to explore the village. Though described as a village, it was more a city in Sol’s original world. Difficulties in describing scale only allowed Sol to make educated guesses at the village’s true size.

Luckily, Sol’s age wasn’t too high and her medical condition stunted her growth for a while, so she could easily pass as an 11 or 12 year old despite being 14. Using that to her advantage, Sol made friends with the local children Lillica and Arnold invited over. Even then, she had yet to step outside the couple’s house.

Though reluctant, Lillica eventually agreed after Sol promised not to run off and stay with the couple. Speaking of, Sol eventually managed to learn the two were, indeed, a married couple, or at least the equivalent of it. As far as she could understand, the couple was a branch of the Drant family located somewhere in a large capital. Though they never explained why they were branched off or why they were in such an isolated area, Sol never bothered to pry.

The first time Sol was escorted around the village, she was surprised to find out the Drant couple were significantly well off compared to their neighbors. At the very least, the two had access to technology and magic that was rare inside the village.

Most of the houses within the ‘village’ were brick and mortar interiors surfaced with some plant mixture that dried into a waterproof coating. Sol was amazed by what she saw as it felt to her that the entire village was a cluttering of archaic technology and modern miracles. After returning home with the couple, Sol fell into deep thought on what she saw.

The village was in a strange state. Water was generated via magic instead of extracted from the ground. Due to that, concepts such as wells, sinks, pipes, plumbing, and so on didn’t have time to develop. Magic was so prevalent in the world, that most of the basic necessities were solved through it alone. Sol found the village’s state made sense after extrapolating further.

Magic is such a universal problem solver, that technology never had a chance to take root. At best, Sol managed to glimpse toys that demonstrated basic physics, and mechanical principles. However, they stopped at just that, toys.

‘Why not both?’, was the question that fluttered across her mind. Sol raised the question to the couple who only shrugged it off as an unnecessary thing. ‘Why reinvent the wheel?’, so to speak. Though the couple dismissed the idea, Sol retained it for the future.

Another two weeks passed and Sol was now capable of basic speech and constructive conversation. She finally learned the story of how she was found and why she was brought back. It turns out, Arnold Drant is the leader of the hunting team for the village and was out that day to take down an invasive animal called a Cathis.

While tracking it, they happened to catch Sol luring one of the invasive creatures away and her entire fight against it. As an unfamiliar face, Arnold ordered the group to remain hidden just in case, however Sol chose, perhaps, the worst spot to fall asleep at.

She blacked out in the middle of the Cathis’ territory forcing Arnold to end the hunt early and bring her back. Thinking back, Sol’s figure at the time was practically homeless and in terrible condition. As an apparent 12 year old powerless in the woods, Arnold couldn’t find it in him to leave the poor girl alone.

After hearing the story, Sol sneaked a glance at Arnold, who avoided her gaze. Was he embarrassed? Regardless, it was good to learn her situation. After a few trips into the village, Sol learned from the other children that Lillica and Arnold were unable to have kids. One of the final barriers to her relaxing was put down with that. Having understood the accepting atmosphere of the couple, her situation made more sense.

Another few weeks passed before Sol felt she had a grasp of the village’s layout. Along with that, she memorized most of the shops and stores available in the village. Her relationship with the Drantz grew closer and for a moment, Sol felt as if she had a family once more.

Thinking along the same lines, Lillica sat Sol down with her one day and brought up the idea of adopting into the Drant family. Without her memories, Sol felt she was lacking something, and considering the couple was still willing even after she explained her situation, Sol accepted.

The following weekend, there was an unexpected visitor from the main branch of the Drant family. The village was in an abnormal atmosphere after the news was passed around. Even at home, Sol noticed Lillica and Arnold were both apprehensive. While Sol remained curious at the situation, the front door received a series of knocks and the Drant couple exchanged glances before heading for the door.