Chapter Word Count: 1,024||Story Word Count: 10,528||Chapter Count: 10/12
I'm not where I was when I open my eyes again. I was in the middle of an expanse of snow-covered plains. Where the snow came from when the skies were blue, I didn't know. It was just there. At least I didn't have to put up with it falling, though, and my clothes keep me warmer than I think they probably should have. My wings help, too.
But now I am in front of something that can only be a castle. I can't recognize the material, but it looks a lot like crystal. It should be clear, but I can't see through it.
Standing outside of the castle's front door are two flower-y sort of creatures. The moment they see me looking at them, they stand up even straighter than they were.
"Hi there!" One of them waves a vine-like arm at me. "Welcome! We've been waiting for you!"
"Hello?" I start to get up, brushing myself off, twitching my wings so they don't look as bad. If this is where I'm supposed to be, then I kind of want to give a decent first impression. "Uh, who are you?"
"I'm Floramon," the one who talked first says, then waves an arm toward the other one. "This is Floramon."
All right, this is getting a bit strange.
No, it was strange a long time ago. I'll figure out another name for it later. I nod at them both, though.
"Where is this place?" Did I just fall out of the sky and land here? Did they see me fall? Does that happen enough that they're completely all right with it?
I don't ask any of those, but I really, really want to. The only reason I don't ask is because there are so many other questions I want answers to.
Floramon the First looks up at the castle, then back to me. "This is our home. We stay here to guard the Great Crystal until someone comes to claim it."
That sounds like the place that I'm supposed to go to. Which makes me wonder just who it was that was talking to me before … whatever it was happened. I remember I made up my mind to help Ophanimon no matter what, so I thought at first I was being punished or taken prisoner or something.
Only here I am, just where I am meant to go.
Floramon the Second takes a close, peering look at me. "Are you the one who came here to claim the Great Crystal?"
"I think I might be," I say, because I'd really rather they didn't turn on me. I think I could win in a fight, but they're so… so small and so innocent, just like little flowers that started to talk.
I don't think I could fight them if I had to. It would be wrong.
The two Floramon look at each other, then back to me.
"If you're not the right one, then you won't come back out of here," Floramon the First says. "The Crystal will turn you to stone."
Well. I wasn't expecting that.
"How do I get in?" Expecting it or not, if this is where I'm supposed to go and if I'm supposed to get this to free Ophanimon, then that's exactly what I'm going to do.
The Floramon do that thing where they look at me and then look at each other, and then back to me. Floramon the Second is the one who says it.
"All you have to do is ask."
I start forward, then stop at once. The wind tugs at my hair, urging me onward, but I think I see a little trap in here. I look at them again, then at the door.
"May I enter? I want to find the crystal so I can free Ophanimon." I don't know if that last part is really necessary but I say it anyway.
Without either Floramon moving, the door opens, revealing a long corridor beyond it. What I can see is just more crystal that should be transparent and isn't.
"You're welcome here," speaks a voice that sends shivers all through me and not in the good way. "Enter, wind-born."
Seriously, I want to know why they all call me that. Maybe once this is over.
I tell the Floramon good-bye and head on inside, taking every step as if it could be my last. The wind still whistles all around me, playing with my hair and my feathers.
I trust the wind not because Ophanimon said so, but because all along, it's been with me. If I'm the wind-born, if I am wind-born, then the wind is my parent. Or something like that.
So I keep on going down the corridor, and as soon as I've passed the door, it slams shut.
And I can't feel the wind anymore.
"Welcome to my home." It's that voice again. The one from just now. Definitely female and definitely dangerous. "Come, come, wind-born. I've been waiting for you for some time."
Nothing of that makes me feel any better. I try to spread my wings but even though I can, I know I won't be able to fly. I can't take off without the wind, and this place is too narrow to do any flying in any way.
"There's no need for that." She sounds scolding. "Follow the corridor to find what you seek."
As much as I don't like it – and that's a lot – I head farther down. Without the wind, everything is just so quiet. The floor's covered in a thick rug that muffles every footstep. Once I'm out of sight of the door, there are now tapestries covering the walls, mostly of designs and scenery. None of them really tick anything in my mostly blank memories. Or in the ones that I do have.
I think that scares me more than almost anything else.
"Who are you?" I ask mainly to hear something.
A laugh comes back to me for that. "You'll see when you meet me. And you will meet me."
As if I needed something to make me even more nervous.
To Be Continued
Notes: I do know who is waiting for Izumi.