I opened my mouth to say something, but all that came out was air and a raspy noise. The girl- Io- smiled softly and helped me sit up. She put a glass of water up to my lips commanding, "Drink."
I did so.
When the entire glass was empty- or at least most of it- she set it aside and smiled at me again. "It's good to see you awake again."
"Hey, Io," I murmured, untrusting of the strength of my voice.
"You've had us worried for the past few days. Nearly succumbed to bloodlust twice, and then had a fever." She pulled my hand into hers. "Seems like even if you're asleep you cause trouble."
"Sorry, didn't mean to." I cast my eyes downward.
Io lifted a hand and forced me to look her in the eyes, clearly amused. "Then don't."
I gave her a weird look, confused.
She giggled softly. "Then don't mean to cause trouble." She pulled me into a hug. "All that matters is that you're alive."
"What if I don't want to be…" I whispered softly, returning the hug. Gripping her like I'd lose her.
"She's waiting for you, you know. She knows, and still loves you. She wants you to live for her. To save her, and to unite her."
"Who…?"
Io's head shook. "I don't know her name, I simply know. She wants to live the happy life that you promised her."
Something tugged at my memory. Nothing came forward, but I knew what to say. "Tell her to wait just a little longer. I'll give her the ring soon." Ring? What ring?
"She knows. She'll wait."
"It's good to see you awake, Alexa. I'm Louis," a voice spoke up nearby, causing me to look up from Io's shoulder. The man who helped me out earlier was standing in the doorway, leaning on the doorframe.
His mask was off, and he was good looking, if his hair still looked stupid. His vest over button-up shirt and black slacks did look good on him.
I opened my mouth and, without thinking, said, "Your hair still looks stupid." I twitched at my words. "Sorry, I- I don't know why I said that."
Louis frowned, as if he was thinking over something. "I- I feel offended, but also slight fondness for some reason." He shook his head. "Whatever. I'm Louis, and welcome to, well, our home base. I took you and Io here after you passed out, thinking it would be much safer for you to recover here than it would be in some other building or cave."
"Oh. Thanks."
"Don't worry about it. You've given us a rough few days when you arrived, and had all of us worried about you, too. It's good that you're awake and well, now. I'll give you a bit more time to recover, and then I'll give you a small tour of the base, if you'd like."
"I- sure. That'd be great, thanks."
"Of course. I'll leave you two alone, now." He grabbed the door's handle and swung it shut. I could just barely hear the exclamation of a young girl before it closed.
I tilted my head slightly, bumping into Io's, silently asking for an explanation. "He's researching blood beads, and he's interested in what you did with the mistle and bloodspring."
"Blood bead tree."
"What?"
"Blood bead tree. Rolls off the tongue better."
Io huffed out a laugh. "You're crazy, you know that?"
"I think I've been called worse." We went silent for a few moments. "I… I missed this," I started softly. "I don't know what I was missing until- until you, you did this."
"We can go whenever you've recovered. You deserve a bit of rest."
"The Lost… are they even human- revenant- any longer?" my mind flashed back to Oliver's transformation.
Skin bulging, growing darker. His face, covered by his mask, growing to match that of his body and fusing with it. Red eyes, never stopping their glow. The body bulging, inflating and changing. Veins that once held blood showing on the surface, darkened and bulging. His hair, once a light orange, going black and down his back in braids. His hammer becoming fused to his hand and spikes cracking out of the metal.
I gasped myself out of the memory, breathing heavy.
"No. They are no longer Revenant. Once they succumb and become Lost, they never return."
"But… why?"
"Why?"
"Why do we become monsters if we don't drink blood? Why does this happen? Why, why, why, why, WHY, WHY!" Tears leaked out of my eyes. I gripped onto Io's dress harder.
"I do not know. I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault… you lost your memories, same as me." I relaxed my grip, hands and body going limp- only Io's steadfast hug keeping me upright.
"Maybe… maybe if we somehow regained your memories… we could know why."
"Could we?"
"Maybe. Remember Vestiges? Those red crystals?"
"Yeah, I remember." Oliver's Vestige.
"We could find yours and regain your memories of before we woke up together. Find out who you were before and see if you know what causes bloodlust. If not, then we find out some other way." I felt Io shrug. "Either way, we still get you your memories. A win-win."
"I guess."
"Now, enough talk." Io pushed me off her and looked at me properly. "We got to get you ready."
"Er-" I started, only to have Io push the bedcovers off me. She stood up, grabbing my arms, and hauled me up. I wasn't wearing my boots, I realized, and I stood just barely taller than her. I was wide-eyed, now. "Uh, Io, what- what are you doing?"
"Making you presentable, of course." There was a desk with a mirror on it, along with several items littered around it. I vaguely recognized them as beauty accessories. Io sat me down in the chair in front of the desk, and I finally got to see what I looked like.
I was, well, I was cute is one way of putting it. I looked to be in my early to mid-twenties- if I had to wager a guess- and had a small spattering of freckles across the bridge of my nose and under my eyes. My eyes were purple, with a fade to green at the bottom. My hair and eyebrows were green as well- a mix between dark and light values of green. What the most striking features, though, were the faintly glowing blue veins that spread up from my neck and to my face, and the glowing pink mark that was situated around my left eye. My hair was let down, not in a braid or ponytail, so it was down to at least mid-back or lower and slightly wavy.
I was openly gaping at myself. "Wha…"
"It's you."
"I never expected…"
"To look this good?"
"Yeah…" And I did look good.
Io grabbed a brush from the desktop and started running it through my hair. I leaned forward, trying to see what the markings were made of. I rubbed my face with my hand, feeling the pink mark. I continued rubbing it, trying to think of what it felt like.
"Ink…" I muttered. "It feels like ink. Like it's a tattoo or something."
"Really?"
"Yeah, but I've never heard of a glowing tattoo before. Granted, I don't remember hearing of glowing tattoos before now, so." Io giggled behind me. "Now," I muttered as I felt the faintly glowing veins. "What are these?" They didn't feel like ink- it just felt like my regular skin. I stood up and brought my face closer to the mirror, leaning over the desk to do so. I muttered an apology to Io, who was still standing behind the chair, looking amused. "Are they… under my skin?" I tilted my face to look. "They are! What?"
I sat back down into the seat. Io pulled my hair over the chair back so she could continue to brush it. She hummed lightly.
"That's just… so strange."
"A lot of things are in this world, I've learned."
"Yeah. Yeah, I guess so."
