Yes. I know. But it would still help my sanity to hear that I am not the only one confused.
I awake from nothing. I take what feels like my first breath. It is a sensation that feels oddly familiar. Which is confusing as my memory only exists up until seconds ago. I take this in for a moment, my mind not really comprehending, then passing the sensation over in search of something more concrete. I am on top of something soft, moist, smelly and lumpy. It is dark and it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust. The sky is clear and the stars are bright. I know some of their names.
It hits me like that first breath. Names. I have a name. I know I do. What is it? I force my fluttering mind to focus on those stars and remember their names in hopes that mine may appear.
Oddly enough it does. A persons' identity seems to always be the first thing lost with amnesia and yet it seems to be the one thing I do recall about myself.
Ekko. I am called Ekko.
My heart settles lightly on the reassurance. All is not lost.
I sit up, my actions automatic with no thought required. The stench is allowed to shift beneath me strengthening tenfold. The hum of disturbed flies falls into place among the background of crickets and rustling leaves. I am clearly in a hole, literally. The moon shifts from behind a cloud and the situation is made clear. It's more like a pit. Full of bodies.
My mind crashes back into panic at the sight of twisted flesh. Where am I? What happened?
The stench rolls through my mouth with the next inhale.
It doesn't matter, I definitely don't want to stay here. The stiff corpses make navigation difficult. I stumble and crawl my way to the nearest corner. I jump to reach the ledge and miss in my first attempt. The give beneath my bare feet sickens me. The squish of fresh fluids seeped over my toes is quickly followed by fresher vomit and bile. I don't miss again. I haul myself up out of that death pit and rest on the cool grass for a moment.
I swallow down the slightly fresher air. Hot tears running across the bridge of my nose as I curl onto my side. My mind starts to stir again trying to understand but the competition with my fear is too great.
I move forward. As I always do, I move forward.
The darkness doesn't help shed clarity on my first night of this life, it's all smudged together in shadows and fear. I stumble my way through the undergrowth in hopes of something, anything. A sign of direction, a hint towards purpose. A clue as to what happened. Thankfully the darkness swallows all of my thoughts and forces my fragile mind to focus on more urgent matters. I have no idea where I am, who I am or who clearly wants me dead and for what reason.
Unfortunately instead of finding myself away from the situation I am drawn to the doors of it. I know that they are there, in front of me, hidden from my gaze behind rock and metal but it is there just the same. The very sense of it freezes me in my tracks. I know I can get in, I don't know how or why but the fact that I can settles solidly in my scattered thoughts. Just as solidly, I don't want to. No matter the urge of it I manage to take that careful step backwards my feet like lead.
As with most things in my existence, coincidence saves my sanity in a cruel and unusual way.
My head tilts ever slightly to the left, followed by a sharp twitch. I barely notice, I listen to the silence. It's like a soft hum in the darkness. Not a hum really, more like a vibration and it's sudden appearance sends chills over my flesh. As much as the sensation catches me off guard I find myself focusing on it in a way that is more a familiar instinct then actual effort.
Behind you, it pulls my head around as if yanking a leash.
Nothing. There is nothing in the darkness. I wait nearly a full minute before the air begins to change. The hum grows more distinct in it's layers, a symphony of sensation. Each note separate but adding to the volume of the chorus. There is an insistence that appeals to my flawed curiosity that keeps me from running. A need to understand what it is that is calling to me.
Do not be afraid a nonexistent voice raises my awareness but there is something missing. I am rocked by the complete lack of further sensation my body seems to know it should be experiencing. Instead I feel the alien concern rising as the once calming hum changes to a restricting presence. Suddenly the voiceless words mean nothing but the increasing pressure on my very core overrides everything as my body proceeds to rack itself in unfounded panic.
We need to hurry the voice is even more silent this time around like a whisper I am not meant to hear. A wave of nausea sends me kneeling in the leaf litter.
Something is supposed to be here. Something is supposed to happen. Something that I am lost without. I feel like a compass without a needle, spinning in panic. I almost don't see them emerge from the shadows of the trees as a sulphur scent drifts on the night's breeze.
"It's ok, you're safe," a woman in white continues forward as one other hangs back. Instead of reassurance I feel a cold blanket sweep over me. The intensity in her gaze attempts to pierce me before falling into an expression of puzzlement.
She is blocking me out she doesn't open her mouth, she doesn't look back at her comrade but this time I know that the faintest of whispers is coming from her.
So...athic... this time it is a broken male response that sends a ripple of panic through me. I can't see him in the shadows but a silhouette perches in the trees above our heads slightly turned away from the situation.
Perhaps
...don't..ow...
Like I said she is blocking me out
"Please leave," my cracked voice sounds painfully underused. I need to get away from these people. If I can get far enough away I'll be able to breathe. I just need to breathe.
"You can hear us," she makes it more of a statement more then a question.
"Please leave."
I feel her chill push at me again and it takes all I am to keep my core warm, a sheen of sweat breaks out over my filthy form. Her smug demeanour falters for a fraction of a second, "We're here to help you."
"Please. Leave." The insistence of my voice almost seems to get through to her. Unfortunately the moment is interrupted by the sudden increase of two different notes on the wind.
"There's something you're going to need to see," a gruff man states to the woman as he steps into the moonlight all muscle and hair, his gaze brief and sweeping. The larger shadow behind him clearly avoids my direction.
My twitch emerges as a flash of image invades my mind. The pit I just climbed out of, the one I managed to avoid looking down into clear as day.
The woman turns back to me I feel a sudden flash of her anger and my fear gets the better of me. I stumble back falling onto my backside completely as I quickly find myself pressed against hard rock. A panicked shriek rips my vocal chords as I throw myself from the hidden door. Apparently it was the wrong thing to do. A orchestra of strange sound and suddenly I am faced with a diamond mistress, a blue devil, an instinctual animal and a wall of walking metal.
I am sure if any of us had hesitated in that moment things may have ended differently. My unfortunate life simply couldn't be that easy and with a reaction I wouldn't understand for some time erupted from my battered body. If I had just found the courage to enter my personal hell ten feet behind me I would have understood everything so much sooner.
It started out of nothing an instinctual response on my part that lead to their reaction. I can't help it, I panicked and in my panic I made assumptions that I didn't understand. All I truly knew in that moment is that if I didn't escape I might as well be dead.
I drew in a heavy shaking breath and felt something unlock inside me through fear. It was like the world before me opened up and I drew it all into me. The four keys struck in front of me were suddenly mine for the plucking. Let me assure you the music I can make in my panic is without parallel. There are just somethings the unconscious mind can do that consciousness couldn't even comprehend.
I feel my body grow cold and the woman's eyes widened a small fraction as she watched my diamond transformation. Instead of her smooth surface mine unsheathed over my body like armour plates. In that same instance I feel my strength double and a itch spread over my calves and feet as the various scratches I'd just recently received close up and heal over smoothly. It takes them half a second to take me in before I simply disappear in a cloud of sulphur smoke.
Panic gives way to exhilaration. My mind ceases trying to understand and instead just follows through the motions that are suddenly available to me. This is what was missing. I was missing. I can no longer hear their thoughts on the wind but I can feel them chasing after me none the less. The blue devil is following my trail but I feel his strength failing while mine remains in tack due to this unnatural healing ability I recently picked up. Unconsciously I can smell them as my senses heighten thanks to the healer's other abilities. It doesn't matter my path is broken, scattered to the night's wind. They can only follow so far before the woman falls back into her mental search but I keep my diamond plating up somehow knowing she can't penetrate the physical shield.
It isn't a long chase by any means. In fact I may have even preferred for it to last longer given that the more distance I put between myself and them the more I felt these new found abilities slipping from my grasp. I scramble to pick up the pieces and as they gain on me I feel my grip strengthen and then I understand. I must suffer myself be taken and be able to fight back or I have to give it all up and run.
Fear tightens my stomach again, I would rather live empty then be taken at all.
With my knew found realization I lose myself in the darkness and keep running long after I can no longer feel them on the wind. The sun is rising now and it is the dawn of a new life.
Utopia, San Francisco Bay
Logan - "Emma put up her shields I figured being physic and all she knew something we didn't."
Emma - "I didn't hide my emotion well enough and she misinterpreted it."
Scott - "You didn't hide your emotions well enough?"
Emma - "Would you care to see what she crawled out of."
Scott - "...I guess I better."
Emma - "That isn't what I - "
Scott - "I know but still I need to see what it is we are dealing with."
...
Logan - "It smelled worse then it looked."
Scott - "I don't doubt that. And you are sure she was in there?"
Logan - "Her trail lead straight from it. That and she smelled like death."
Scott - "We need to find her."
Emma - "I am not so sure that is such a good idea at this exact moment."
Scott - "Why?"
Emma - "I may not have been able to get a clear read off of her but I definitely got that she didn't want to be near us, or likely anyone. She clearly isn't ready. I will keep an eye on her but I don't think it would do her any good to be captured and carted off."
Logan - "She did seem a little cracked."
Emma - "What would you be!"
Logan - "Me."
...
Scott - "Fine. If she shows any signs of danger or distress we bring her in."
Emma - "I think you are glossing over what I've been saying, she is perfectly distressed."
Scott - "And a danger?"
Emma - "I am not sure. I have the cuckoos looking at her power signature as far as I can figure she is a vicinity absorber. As long as she isn't in anyone's vicinity she shouldn't be an issue."
Scott - "So we just leave a cracked mutant out running in the woods naked and alone?"
Emma - "We could drop some supplies for her, I am sure she would sense it out there."
Scott - "Fantastic so what we're to do is instead of bringing her to our limited resources you suggest we cart off some of our, I repeat, limited resources, out into the middle of nowhere where she may or may not have the sense to find it."
Emma - "So you just want to leave her out there with nothing to die?"
Scott - "That is not what I am saying, I want to bring her in."
Emma - "You put a frightened mutant on an island with unrestricted access to unlimited power and expect our limited resources to be left in peace? I thought that you were some kind of tactician."
Scott - "Ok...fine...how about we keep an eye on her for now, just observation. Make assessments after we know more about the situation."
Cuckoos - Miss Frost, Mr. Summers sorry to intrude - but we thought that you should know - the mutant you had us track, well we lost her
Scott - What do you mean you lost her?
Cuckoos - Well we have her signature up until a certain point - then nothing. She clearly stopped using - her powers but it's also like she stopped being a mutant
Scott - "Fantastic."
I know my priorities. I need clothing. Alone in the darkness last night I didn't even think about it until I saw those ... ... people ... . Their clothing, however odd, had reminded me of simple things I had forgotten. I wouldn't survive another cold night. The only reason I hadn't been bother before was due to physical exertion creating warmth.
Now all I had to do was figure out how to get what I needed without causing a repeat incident of last night. I shook my head trying not to think about it. I didn't understand any of it. I didn't understand myself. I feel the uneasiness inside me rise up but I battle it down with a deep inhale and a twitch to release the energy.
So I find myself in a tree, on a ridge, overlooking a small settlement deciding how best to proceed. Despite losing my memory my body seemed to retain it's naturally imbedded gestures. Like my 'head cock of thought' as I've long since come to think of it. Normally people don't name their personal body language slang but this one has time and time again demanded attention. As I slowly drift to the left my muscles react suddenly causing a twitch that probably boarders on alarming. It didn't seem alien or newly acquired. Yet another question to add to an ever growing list.
I glanced down at my left arm. This one was the one that troubled me the most. There in bold black ink; LBG3-19. Just as I know that my name is Ekko, I also know that I am this combination of letters and numbers. The difference was the cold pit that fell in my stomach when I look down at those figures.
I gently close my eyes and shake my head. My attention focused hard on the two chords of sensation that were slowly drifting on the breeze. They were distant and gentle, each distinct in its own way. The feel of them is oddly calmly.
So it was I sat there stretching my mind around this sense of power in my core. There wasn't the urgency of panic which definitely helped my self control. I could feel them more with every inhale like the sense of them was slowly filling me. Whispering in my ears telling me all their secrets.
One was hot. It was bright and sharp. I could smell the heat, taste the spice. The overall sensation wasn't exactly unpleasant, just strange. It was sitting on the tip of tongue but I just couldn't pull it into me. I didn't feel the mastery over it.
The other was just soft. Light and cool like mint. It was calming more then anything it seemed to sooth my aches.
They were both beyond my reach but I saw them as valuable sources should I need them. I looked down at the buildings with a sense of security knowing that if something happened I simply had to find one of these instruments. That I had both offensive and defensive options also factored into my decision of action.
I couldn't wait until dark it wasn't sensible. As it turned, no one in this small community was worried about their laundry being stolen off of the line. I felt rather foolish at my previous sense of fear and foreboding.
Perhaps the world isn't as scary as I thought. In fact it was far less frightening then the pit of death that lay in those woods behind me.
Let me first say that just because I found people less then terrifying that I certainly didn't go out of my way to be near them. I saw people on occasion but rarely at close range and you can be sure that I didn't speak to anyone. What would I say?
What bothered me most was the sense I got from most people. It was similar to those rare notes on the breeze but something so different. Most were like oatmeal. All bland and empty. Sometimes I could taste dust or ash. Stale water from others. It made me uneasy to say the least.
There were those rare gems though. They pulled at me some from great distances. I know they are far because I could only hear them sometimes, in those perfect calm moments only a few days provide.
So I keep my distance and follow those wayward notes. What else can I do? With no idea of who or what I am I wasn't going to find answers by doing nothing. I stole when and what I could from towns I passed from food to clothing. I even managed a nap sack left out in the sun. I left the books and pages though, they would only slow me down. I didn't accumulate much but what I had was effectively mine.
I catalogued every flavor I heard on the wind. I would track them down and get as close as I had to before I could determine what power I was tasting. Telekinetic waves. Fresh telepathic rain. I learned what made of the elements from rich earth to fluffy air. The different sweetness between light and energy. The bold hard proteins of enhancements. Each note was compromised of these sensations in combinations I can't even begin to describe.
I didn't feel that strange mastery over them again for at least a span. I finally stumbled across a girl playing with sun light. Not in, with. It was like suddenly being able to see. A startling new array of sensations burst inside me like a sunrise. It wasn't terrifying. It wasn't alarming. It was beautiful. The air was honey and moving through the particles was amazing I instantly understood why she was dancing.
This encounter also opened my eyes to mutants. The girl's mother emerged and viciously scolded the pubescent child before they disappeared into the house. With her absence my control faltered but didn't fail. It was only through distance that the light drained away from me. From there my education on mutants was a priority that helped clear up some aspects of my existence.
I was hated. That was a fair assessment that definitely helped determine why I had been left for dead. I figured I could safely assume that the bodies I left behind were mutants. Now that I know what I am I slowly begin to despise it. I am nothing. This fact is made very clear to me one starry evening in a construction site.
It is a small town that I had hovered near for an extra day due to a lack of security, an abundance of opportunities. I found myself behind a food market breaking locks on their dumpsters to get at the goods inside. I was leaning over the edge reaching for the old baked goods when rough hands hauled me out. I reacted quick enough managing to drive my elbow into the top of an assailants skull but I apparently miscalculated the situation. Another figure slammed a heavy fist into my midsection flushing the air from me lungs.
As I gasped to reclaim my oxygen I could see the shadows drifting around me and all at once I understood that I was powerless. Not a note among these seven males just ash and oat. Not even dirt just dust.
I won't go into details but this is the night where I truly began to despise what I am. A mutant. And not a very good one at that.
As a result of this encounter I begin to see myself as a parasite. I will never survive without a host. Preferably an array of hosts. I still developed no memories of my past but given my situation upon waking, it was safe to assume that I was not safe. So it was that I moved to a cluster of chords. I can determine direction, a sense of distance up to a point as well as a taste of the concentration and level of powers. It was simply picking the direction that held the most notes and moving toward it.
Thanks.