Chapter 3 (Sapphire): The Lost Girl

We just barely made it to the residence estate before they closed down for the day.

"You got here just in time," said the lady at the front desk. "What place are you looking for?"

Emeral described the place the mechanic's told him about.

"They said this would cover the price." He placed the bag of rings on the desk.

The lady opened it up, looked in it, and nodded. "I think I know the place you're talking about. I'll be right back."

We sat down and waited for her or someone else to come back. I looked over at Emeral. He looked pretty strong, but not like in the heavy lifting kind of way. I got the impression that he was some kind of fighter.

Did he know that? I wasn't sure, I haven't asked. I'm not sure if I wanted to. I didn't want to see fighting.

Was that part of who I am, someone who doesn't like violence? Is that what I have to get stronger for?

"So, Sapphire," Emeral asked, "what do you think your twin brother is like?"

"Oh, I-I don't know," I replied.

"If he's anything like you, I bet he's a nice guy."

"Yeah..."

"So, tell me, what was the voice like. You know... the one that led you out of the cave."

"Oh... I can't remember, really, other than what I already told you."

"Someone familiar, and trustworthy," Emeral summed up.

A mobian from the other room came out. He was a short and stout bear with light brown fur and blue eyes. He was carrying a clip board. "Hello, my name is Samuel. Your money has been counted. It is just enough to buy the place your thinking of normally, but right now that house is on sale, so you got some extra money if you do this."

"Can you describe the place a little more for me?"

"Yeah. It's already fully furbished, and it is powered by a Chaos Drive generator, so you don't have to pay for electricity and heating, and other bills are paid for at least the first month. This house a little more expensive than others, even when on sale, because it's special to the hearts of the island, but you still covered the price quite nicely."

"Hm, no wonder Rusty and Adam wanted me to get that place."

"Oh, they recommended it to you. They have good taste."

"Hm, alright. Sorry for taking your time, since your about to close."

"Oh it's alright. Come on, let me show you where it is."

During that whole conversation, I was only half listening. I didn't notice when Emeral and the retailer started to leave.

"Sapphire, are you coming?" Emeral called to me.

"Oh!" I looked up, "right. Coming!"

I felt guilty. I lied to him about the voice. I knew more about the voice, I just didn't know who it belonged to. I just couldn't tell him the entire story about what happened there. I just couldn't understand it.

As we walked, I replayed the memory in my head.


I woke up inside of a cavern. The only light came from a nearby pool of water. The ground was sandy.

I didn't remember seeing another person there, much less Emeral, so at the time, I wouldn't even have known he existed. In fact, no one was in the cavern but me.

I got up, and noticed that I felt that... something was... off about my body. It was much lighter, but... a little stronger. It felt as if something... warm was covering it, besides my clothes. And I was shorter... Much shorter.

I tried to walk over to the pool to my reflection, but it my walking didn't feel... right, either. It felt strange, different, not balanced the way I remembered, not the way I remember walking. Because of this, just as I was a foot from the water, I fell off balance and fell into the water.

"Great, just great," I told myself as I climbed out. Then I noticed my voice. It sounded older, like I was about fifteen or sixteen... but I was a few years younger than that, so I my voice shouldn't sound like that. "Wha-" Then I looked at my hands. They weren't human hands, but mobian hands.

I quickly out the pool and waited for the ripples to stop, so I could see my reflection.

Looking back at me was a sixteen-year-old, dripping wet hedgehog girl with yellow fur, blue eyes, and blonde hair, and she was wear a sky blue dress with a medium blue jacket on top. I waved my hand in front of my face, and the hedgehog girl in the water copied my movements.

"That-that's my reflection," I told myself, "so that means..."

I screamed.

After that, I kept checking my whole body, freaking out at what happened to it.

Then I tried to think about the last thing I was doing. Then I found that I couldn't remember. And not just what I was doing last, but nothing. My home, my birthday, not even my name. Everything about my life was just... gone.

So then why did I remember I was human, and nothing else? And it was just that I was human. I didn't remember what I looked like as a human, or how old I was as a human.

I tried to get up, and get used to my new body. It felt so weird to be short. Well, I was a respectable height for mobians standards, but in terms of human height, yeah, I was short.

I found the exit to the cavern behind me, and started walking towards it, going slowly so I could learn my new center of gravity. But before I could exit the cavern, a voice behind me said, "Wait..."

I quickly turned around, nearly falling over, to see who spoke. But no one was there...

"Who's... how...?" I tried to say.

"I'm not really here, this is a part of my spirit that I sent here to speak with you..."

"O-okay."

Like I told Emeral, voice sounded like someone I should know, and someone I could trust. Besides that, it sounded like it belonged to girl, maybe in her teens, but it sounded pretty old-styled, like she lived in a tribal area long ago, or something like that. And it sounded really pleasant.

"Who are you...?" I asked the voice.

"That doesn't matter right now, unfortunately," she said, "what matters is that I'm here to help you."

"You... you know who I am?"

She sighed. "Yes, but... I can't tell you, I don't have the time..."

"But... why? Why can't you tell me? Why did this happen to me?"

"I'm sorry, but I can tell you that this was your choice, but nothing more..."

"Wha- but... why would I...?" I couldn't speak, but the voice got the message.

"You wanted to help. But you can't right now. You're not strong enough yet."

"I need to be... stronger..."

"Yes, now I'm here to tell what you need to do for your journey to find your lost memories."

"Wha... but..."

"Do you know how to exit these caverns?"

"The exit is-" Then I realized there might be caverns past this one. Probably a whole cave system. And if I did find my way out, then what would I do? "No... I don't even know what to do."

"In order to find your way out, follow the sand."

"The sand... on the floor?"

"Yes, then find someone you can trust. He'll lead the way."

"What? But... but..."

"Good bye... old friend..."

"Wait! I don't-" But the cavern went silent.

She was gone.

I had no other option. I had to follow the sand.

I did so, making sure I continued walking through the soft sand and not hard ground, and keep my hand on the cavern walls as much as I could so I didn't get lost in the pitch-black tunnels. I tried to get used to the way I walked in my new body. I tripped over a lot, but I eventually figured it out.

When I finally saw daylight, I got excited and ran as fast as I could (or at least, as fast as I could handle, because I haven't ran in this body yet). I reached the outside at last. I saw the massive fields, and the port town. It was so beautiful.

But then I realized... would anyone know me? What would they do with an amnesic girl who thought she was supposed be a human. I didn't know what to do, so I just sat down next a tree, and cried my heart out. Not the best idea, thinking about it now, but I was so confused.

Then Emeral came.

I just let everything pour out. Well, not everything. I couldn't bring myself to tell him that I thought I was human. I knew he wouldn't believe me, but then again, he was a robot who thought like a human, mobian, whatever he thought it was.

He was so kind helping me out. Then there was that William fellow.

Yeah, there was the person William took me to. I couldn't help but think about that again.


William and I had reached the place. It was a small house, with wide windows covered by curtains.

"All right, this is the place," William told me.

"A house?" I asked.

"The girl who lives here, she's a psychic, literally. I've seen her powers in work. She only really comes out at night, but she'll help people with stuff during the day, as long as it's small. I've even heard she's been able to predict the future for a few people, though the ability isn't great. If anyone can help you, it's her."

"Really?"

"Yes. Well, I've got to go down to the docks. My assistant is probably waiting for me. Good bye!"

"Good bye, Mr. William!" I called out as he left.

Then I turned the door. I was a little nervous, I mean, speaking with a psychic and all, someone would be. But I built up my courage and knocked on the door.

I had to wait a few minutes, but eventually the door opened. It had one of those door chain locks on it that kept it from opening all the way, though I could see someone peeking through.

"You need some help?" She asked.

"Um... yeah, I have, um... I can't... remember anything."

"Ah, amnesia." She closed the door, unhinged the chain (or at least I heard that part), and reopened the door. "Please, come in."

I wasn't sure what to expect with this psychic girl, but I was thinking she might be one of those fortune-teller kind of people, who were dressed in gypsy type dresses and jewelry, and the place would be full of voodoo charms and there would be a table with a crystal ball or tarot cards.

But that wasn't it at all. The girl was dressed in regular clothing, and her house was full of normal furniture stuff.

She was a mobian wolf with silvery-white fur, yellow eyes, and long hair (well, fur) tied into a ponytail. She was wearing a light purple hunting jacket over a black blouse, and a white short skirt with black knee-length nylon pants underneath, and hunting boots like mine, but they were black and white, not blue. She wore no gloves, but she had a silver bracelet on her right hand's wrist.

The living room had a regular TV and two couches facing each other with a coffee table in between them, which had a few books on it. I could see her kitchen from here, and it was pretty normal, too, so it shouldn't be too hard to imagine. There was also one of those target circles on the left wall, like what they would use in archery practice, though it covered in burn marks, which was strange.

"It's nice to meet you, my name is Artemis," she told me, "What is yours, if you remember it, of course?"

"Um, my name it Sapphire, though that is a placeholder name until I remember my real name," I replied. "So your name is Artemis, like the goddess."

"Yes, Artemis, the goddess of the moon and the hunt. My parents called me that because my fur was the color of the moon, and I am a wolf, which was her sacred animal. And the fact that my family is a pretty big hunting family might have been part of it too."

"Huh, cool! So, I heard that you only like to come out at night. Why is that? You're not a... werewolf or something like that, are you?"

"Of course not, I'm a mobian wolf," Artemis replied.

"Oh, of course, silly me," I said.

"No, reason is because it's a time for me to practice my powers, since everyone else in the town is probably asleep."

"Really? Show me!"

She raised her hand, and a book on her coffee table, started to levitate.

"Wow! That's so cool!" I said. "What else can you do?"

"I can read minds, but only if the one who I'm trying to read has his or her mind open. I can shoot psi-energy blots from my hand." She raised her hand towards the target circle, and shot a purple energy bolt from it. The bolt hit the target, and gave it another burn mark. "I'm going to have to get new one out soon... Oh, and I have clairvoyance, so I can see the future."

"You're really awesome."

"Yeah there are limits to what I can do," Artemis sighed. "My mind reading and psi-bolts are my only proficient abilities. I can only use one ability at a time. I can only lift one object with my mind at a time, and I can't lift living things. And my clairvoyance..."

"I heard. It's not that great."

"Actually, it's pretty terrible."

We both laughed.

"So, you have amnesia. Alright, please sit down."

I sat down on the couch on the right, and she sat across from me.

"Alright, I am going to read your mind," she said. "I should be able to find your memories that way. All you have to do is open your mind."

I nodded. She closed her eyes, concentrating. I then closed my eyes, trying to "open" my mind to her.

We both remained like minutes for a few minutes. I was worried something might be wrong, but then she growled in frustration.

I opened my eyes. "What, did I do something wrong?"

"No, you did just fine, your mind was opened to me the whole time," Artemis replied. She looked over to the target circle. "The problem is..." she sighed, "you're memories are buried so deep in your mind, that it's impossible for me to get into. It like a password on a computer. You don't remember the password, and I can't hack into it for you because there are too many firewalls."

"So, you can't get in for me? You can't find my memories"

Artemis shook her head. "But, there is one more thing I can try."

"Okay, what?"

"You have to remember that 'password.' Some people might have hints placed, so they can be reminded of what their password is if they forget. You have to find those hints."

"Okay, explain it in non-computer talk, please?"

"You have to find something from your past. If you see it, you might remember it, and thus, you'll start remembering you past."

I nodded. It made sense.

"Now, I know everyone on the island, and I've never seen before today, so I don't think you would find that hint here. I might be wrong, though, so don't worry. Now, I may not know you, but I can still help you, by using my clairvoyance."

"The ability that doesn't work to well," I stated.

"Yes. It's my worst ability, but I have no choice but to use it, if I want to help you. So let explain how it works."

"I'm listening."

"In order for me to read you future, I'll have to put you in a sleeping trance. It's another ability I have, but it's tied with my clairvoyance."

"Like hypnotism?"

"Not really. Everything around you will be blank. You won't see or hear anything around you. You won't even dream. It is temporary, but you'll have to put a lot of trust into me."

"Okay."

"While you're in this trance, I'll concentrate like I did with the mind reading, but this will take several hours more to complete. One time, I put someone to sleep to read their future at some time around dawn, and I couldn't finish and wake him up until sunset. You could be out a while."

"I understand."

"One more thing, I should tell that my reading probably won't be accurate. It's rare that my future will be completely wrong, which in that case, it will probably be the opposite of what I told you, so keep that in mind. But I don't get it completely right a lot of the time either. Most of the time, it will be partially correct, but something with still be wrong."

"Alright, I'm ready."

She nodded. "Now open your mind, once more."

I did so, and she waved her hand in front of me. I fell asleep instantly.


I felt that it was only a few seconds from when I fell asleep to when I woke up, but I could clearly tell it was later in the day.

"You're awake," Artemis said. "Here, I made you some dinner."

She handed me a hamburger.

"Sorry if you don't like it, but I didn't know what you liked, so I made you something simple."

"That's okay, I'll be fine." I took a bite out of the burger. "That's really good," I said after I swallowed. "So did you find out about my... future?"

"Well, I saw a warrior of fire at your side. The two of you have found your... twin brother, as you said in the vision."

"Twin brother..." I started to feel a warm inside. I had twin brother. I must have one if I was feeling this way. "What did he look like?"

"I couldn't see him clearly, but I did see a... cobalt blue color. That must be the color of his fur. And I'd assume he is a hedgehog like you."

I wanted to bring up that I thought I was human, but I couldn't. It was still too weird. Plus, it felt to me that she was completely right about his description, though I hated relying on my feelings so much. Being amnesiac sucked.

"Oh, and the vision also had some focus on another figure, a black figure. I didn't make out who he was, but he seemed important to you. Perhaps a boyfriend."

"A black figure...?"

"I'd guess he's a mobian, though I wouldn't know. Also, I don't think they're on the island."

"Wh-what... but why?"

"Well, for one, I saw them in a city background, and there is no city on the island. And then, as I have already said I know everyone on the island, and I don't know any with those descriptions. Sorry, I wish I could tell you more."

"Th-that's okay," I replied, but I was started to tear up.

"You sure? You're starting to cry."

"I'm sorry," I told her, "I'm not hungry." I got up to leave.

"Wait, Sapphire..." Artemis called.

I looked back.

"I'm sorry if I couldn't help you, but if you want, we could be friends."

I tried to calm down. "Yeah, that would be nice. But I've got another friend I need to meet up with."

"Then, good bye, Sapphire."

"Good bye." As left, I smiled. If anything could cheer me up, it was a friend, especially one I just made.