Lost
Neo
She woke up to the sound of birds chirping. Staring above she found a canopy of trees above her. The air was cool yet she was warm. She sat up and looked around to find that she was in a forest. And found she was lying in the middle of a large white flower with several animals around her. They looked up at her when she moved. Their voices all reaching her at the same time yet their mouths didn't move. "You all can talk?"
A squirrel placed its paw on her leg.
"What? I've been sleeping for an entire week? I don't understand," she said placing a hand on her forehead. "I don't feel so good right now." She looked back to the animals when they spoke to her. "I'm what? Pregnant?"
The squirrel reached up and placed its paw on her stomach.
She noticed it then. Her stomach was round. She could sense the baby. Their baby was inside of her, sleeping peacefully. "I see. That must be why I don't feel so good right now. But there's something else wrong. I can't remember how I got here."
The animals spoke to her again.
"What? You just found me in the woods? I see. Thank you for taking care of me," she said. "My name is Neo. That's odd. Why can I remember that but nothing else about myself?" She looked up when some birds tweeted. A small group of blue and white birds were carrying a big leaf filled with berries. She took it from them. "These are for me? Thank you. I guess I do need to eat. It's important when you're pregnant. I think." She placed a red berried in her mouth. It's tarty juice washed over her tongue before a sweet flavor followed. "It's an interesting berry. What is it? A swart berry? I don't think I've ever heard of it before. These other berries have more of a sweet flavor to them. They're very nice. Thank you."
She ran her eyes over all of the animals before her. Some she recognized but some she didn't. One of those was a bird the size of a humming bird. It had a long dark blue beak, matching dark blue eyes, its feathers were light blue but for the tuff of feathers around its neck. It buzzed around her just like a humming bird would do. Its small head tilting both ways multiple times as it flew around her. "What is it? You can sense the elements inside of me?"
Neo looked down at herself. She tried to focus on what the animals were sensed but could only focus on her rounded stomach, which was barely visible underneath her black shirt. Then she felt it. The wind, water, earth, and fire was inside of her. "That's…odd. Why do I have that inside of me?"
She focused hard. Several crystals in all shapes and sized appeared. They were all shades of red, blue, green, and light blues. "That's weird. The elements are coming from inside of these crystals. But how? Have any of you ever seen someone like this before? You haven't. No, that's okay. I understand. I think. If I can get my memories back I'll know who I am. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to even do that."
Neo sighed and placed another berry inside of her mouth. "You didn't happen to see anyone else around me when you found me, did you? No? I see. I just appeared here. I wonder how that could possibly happen." Shifting her hand on the leaf she noticed something clinging to one of her fingers. Lifting her left hand up she found a silver ring with a heart shaped design made with blue gems on it. "What's this?" The image of a tall black haired man passed through her mind. Her head spun. "Who…who was that?"
The animals chirped and chattered at her worried she might be hurt.
"No, I'm not hurt," Neo said. "I just saw something while looking at this ring. I don't know who it was. And I don't know where this ring came from." Tears came to her eyes. "What should I do? What should I do?"
The animals snuggled up against her.
She wiped her tears away. "Thank you, my friends. Your forest looks like a nice place to live. But I don't think I can stay here. I need to figure out why I can only remember my name."
A bird flew right in front of her.
"There are others living here? But not like me," Neo said. "I see. Maybe there's someone there that can help me. That's nice of you to take me there. It might be best if I go there. You'll come with me? Are you sure it's safe for you all to do that?" A smile formed over her lips when they said they wanted to look after her. "Very well then. You can come with me. I'll do what I can to protect you if someone tries to hurt you."
The animals got off her and the flower. She followed them. The grass was soft under her bare feet. "I wonder where my shoes are. I didn't have any on? I must have lost them then. No matter. It doesn't bother me to be barefooted. Shall we go then?"
The animals ran and flew ahead of her. She followed after them. Her eyes ran over the forest. The trees were all sizes and shapes. One reminded her of an octopus that was upside down. She giggled. Her body twitched when bells came from her laughter. She touched her throat. "What was that? I have bells in my laughter? How is that possible?"
A couple of squirrels ran up her body and perched on her shoulders. They sniffed her and chattered curiously.
"I think I'm weird," Neo said. "I also beginning to think there's not going to be anyone who can tell me about myself. No, I want to keep going. I think." She paused then thought then added, "Yes, I do want to continue. Staying in this forest isn't going to give me answers."
The group then proceeded on through the forest. She looked up. It was obvious there was light source coming from somewhere but there appeared to be no sun at all. "That's odd. Where's the sun? What do you mean? You don't know what the sun is? It's a large burning star that lights up the planet during the day. You don't have one?" Neo paused and looked at her friends. "How can you have no sun? Where's this light coming from?"
"Well, well, look at what we have here," a deep voice said.
Neo jumped. She turned to see a man stepping out from behind a tree. His eyes were dark as coal. His hair dark brown and dirty from being unwashed. His clothes were wrinkled and stained from food and possibly blood. A shiver ran over her spine when her eyes landed on the sword hanging on his belt.
"I come out here to find a place to relieve myself and I find such a wonderful surprise waiting for me," he said. "The name's Dirk. What's yours, sweetheart?"
Neo took a step back from him when he took two steps closer to her. He was dangerous. Not only did her sense tell her that so did the animals. Their angry chirps and chatters voiced their warnings to the man.
"So those animals are your friends?" he asked. "That's cute. You look a little young, but you should be old enough for some delightful entertainment. Just tell your friends to stay back and they won't get hurt."
"I guess he can't understand you," Neo said. "He didn't react at all to your threats."
"What are you babbling about?" he asked.
"You can't understand them?" Neo asked.
"What are you babbling about?" Dirk lifted an eyebrow at her. "Are you some kind of freak?"
An ice-cold hand gripped her chest when the word freak penetrated her ears. She grabbed her head. Visions of people yelling at her flashed through her mind. "What…what is this? I'm so cold."
"I don't know what's wrong with you but I can over look a little oddness if you're good at preforming," Dirk said. "And I'm sure you can do just fine. You're young. You'll learn whether or not you've had experience in pleasuring men." He chuckled. "And I'm a very patient man with plenty of experience. So come along with me. My house isn't very far from here."
"No," Neo said.
"No?" Dirk asked.
"I'm not coming with you," Neo said.
"I'm afraid you don't have a choice." He frowned and stepped closer to her.
"I'm telling you to stay back." Neo started walking backwards. "I'm not going anywhere with you. And I'm certainly not going to give you any sort of pleasure. I'm pregnant."
"Oh? Good. Then maybe it'll be a girl," Dirk said. "I can train her to pleasure me as well."
Fire flared up inside of Neo's chest. The wind picked up around them. She gripped her fists. "You will not touch me or our baby!"
"Our baby?" Dirk laughed. "I knew I was a good lover but I didn't think I was that good! We just met!"
"I'm not talking about you!" Neo summoned her crystals. The red ones flared up with fire.
"What the heck?" Dirk eyed the crystals.
Water circled around the dark blue ones. The wind flowed around the light blue ones. Dirt lifted up from the ground and circled around the green ones. The plant life around them also began to grow up. Vines snapped. Animals came from the woods, staring the threat down. A bear roared and whipped out its paw.
"What are you doing?!" Dirk took a few steps away from Neo while eyeing the bear and other wild animals.
"Keeping you away from our baby and me!" Neo said. "I won't allow you to touch either of us! You don't have the right!"
"L-look, lady, I was just kidding," Dirk said taking another step back. A vine snapped out at him. It hit the ground beside his boot. He jumped away from it.
"You lie," Neo said. "You were going to hurt us. But I won't permit it. However, I will let you go."
"What?" Dirk looked at her.
"It sickens me what you had planned for me and our baby," Neo said holding her stomach. "But you didn't touch us, yet. So I'm giving you the chance to leave and never come near us again."
"Well, that's mighty nice of you," Dirk said. "I'll do just that." He reached for his belt and pulled out his sword. It crackled with lightning. "Not! Lightning Strike!"
Neo pulled wind around her when Dirk sliced his sword at her. The lightning flew at her. She flew away from it. The lightning past her head and hit a tree, catching it on fire. Moving her fire crystals closer to the tree, she pulled the fire out of it then forced the fire towards Dirk.
Dirk jumped to his right. "Well, well, interesting things you can do with those crystals of yours. You're going to catch me a pretty price when I get my fill of you. I know plenty who would love to have you as a weapon. I wonder if those crystals can be dissected from you? No matter. I only have to have you as a whole. Whoever takes you can figure that out."
"Who the heck are you?" Neo asked.
"I'm Dirk," Dirk said again. "I'm a treasure hunter of sorts. I'm all the time looking for rare items like you."
"You think I'm a rare item?" Neo asked. "Why?"
"Because I've sailed all over the Star Line and have never came across anything like you," Dirk said. "You are one of a kind."
Sadness settled into Neo's chest. She tried to force it away. Just because he's never seen someone like her didn't mean she was literally the only one of her kind. "So you have no idea what I am?"
"Not a clue," Dirk said. "None of the star flakes have powers like this."
"Star flakes?" Neo asked.
"Like my sword here," Dirk said. "Well, sort of. I'm actually wearing this star flake under my clothes. I can channel its power into my sword. And just like you saw I can guide the lightning power to anywhere I wish." He held the sword up to her. It crackled and sparked. "I only have this one. I favor it over all of the other star flake powers."
"I see," Neo said. "And if I remove this star flake you'll lose your powers?"
"Perhaps." Dirk smirked. He reached down and adjusted himself. "That is, if you're brave enough to actually reach for it."
"You're so disgusting," Neo said.
"And why is that? You've clearly been with a man before," Dirk said. "You're pregnant after all."
Neo gritted her teeth. Perhaps she shouldn't have said that. This man might target their baby completely instead if just her. She looked down when she felt her crystals moving closer. Several of them had gathered around her. The wind wrapped around her stomach. "What in the world are they doing? Are they protecting our baby?"
"Why don't we find out if you're brave enough?" Dirk charged forward. Pulling back his sword, he swung it at Neo again.
With a flick of her hand, the ground rose up around her and coated her body. She wrapped a vine around the blade of his sword just before he could strike her.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Dirk demanded. "How can you do that?! My lightning should be frying you right now?!"
"I guess it just likes me," Neo said.
"Likes you?" Dirk scoffed. "You really are a freak."
That coldness came back as did the visions. They all stabbed in her head. She flinched releasing his sword.
"Now die!" Dirk swung at her again.
Her crystals flared up. The ground and vines wrapped around his sword, snapping the blade in half.
"No! You broke my sword!" Dirk said.
Neo shook her head. She brought her focus back to Dirk and tossed his broken sword at his feet. "If you don't get out of here I'll break you in half."
"Fine," Dirk said. He turned and ran away from her. "I'm out of here! You and those freaky powers of yours can go away!"
The coldness surrounded her again as nature went back to normal. Her crystals vanished. She wrapped her arms around her body. Tears leaked over her eyelids. "Freak…he might be right. Why does that word hurt so much?"
The animals gathered back around her. Some licked her skin while others rubbed their furry cheeks against her. A soft giggle escaped from her lips.
"Thank you, my friends. I'm fine. I think," Neo said. "It's just that word hurts. I get so cold. Yes, let's continued on to the town."
The animals resumed leading her through the forest. She scanned her eyes around her surroundings, wondering how exactly she did what she did. She never noticed before but she could feel nature all around her. A quarter mile from her location was a small stream. A few miles behind her were a small mountain with some goats climbing all over it. And inside the many caves were several different nighttime creatures waiting for their turn to come out and prowl the night. She looked back up to the trees and wondered when night would fall. Without the sun she wasn't sure how she would tell. She didn't even know what time it was.
When the animals started talking to her again, she brought her attention back to them and found they had made it to the edge of the forest. She gasped at the sea of stars and the purple colored sky spread out before her. "What is that? The sea? How can that be the sea? It's dark. And there're stars in it. And the sky is purple? You don't know, huh? That's okay. Maybe they have a library where I can do some research on it."
Neo walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down to the town below. "So that's the town you told me about, huh?"
Most buildings were huddled together near a dock with only three ships. But a few others were farther away from the rest. It looked peaceful enough. A bird landed on her shoulder. "I don't know what I should do. If that guy wanted me for these strange crystals I have then everyone else down there could too. Maybe I shouldn't go into the town. But I can't stay out here either."
The bird rubbed her cheek and chirped.
"I suppose that I can just not use my crystals," Neo said. She stroked the bird's smooth feathers with her finger. "I'll just have to be careful and not draw attention to myself. That shouldn't be too hard. Right?"
The animals exchanged looks.
They didn't have to speak for her to know what they were thinking. They were just as unsure as she was. Still she scanned for a path down the cliff. She walked to her right and found a dirt path that led down to the bottom. A few of the animals ran ahead of her while some trailed behind. At the bottom was a small forest. As they walked through it several other animals stopped to check her out. All of their voices went off in her head at the same time. She barely was able to understand them. But one question was obvious. "I'm sorry, everyone. I have no idea what I am. And I don't know how I can understand and talk to you all either. Apparently, I have some memory loss. I can't seem to remember anything about myself other than my name. Yes, that was me who controlled nature a while ago. Some man was trying to hurt me and our child."
Placing her hand on her stomach, Neo paused when a bird asked her why she kept saying our child. "I don't know. I must be talking about the man is that gave me this baby. And this ring." She lifted her hand to show them the ring. "That must be why. I just can't or I don't feel right about saying my baby. It feels better saying our baby. Does that sound weird? Thanks. You all are so understanding. Let's keep going."
Walking along a craving for a banana found its way into Neo. She summoned an earth crystal and formed herself a banana. "Wow. I can even create food. Or at least fruits and vegetables since they're part of nature."
She finished her banana just as they got to the edge of town. To her left was a field of pigs. One of them walked along the fence and snorted at her for the banana peeling. With a smile she tossed it to her. She reached the town. Standing near a building she looked into the town and at the people. They all had light brown skin, black hair, and slightly pointed ears. They were completely different from the man she had met in the forest. He had light colored skin. And his ears weren't pointed at all. "I've never seen people like this before. I wonder who they are."
Several minutes past and she still didn't step into the town. Her body twitched nervously. "I don't know why I'm not going in. I can't seem to get myself to move. But there's no danger here. Or I don't think there is. They seem nice enough. Nothing at all like that guy who found me in the forest. Maybe if I just watch them for a little while longer."
And she waited and just watched the people pass by her. A few noticed she was standing there but no one seemed to mind. She looked down when something tapped her foot. Sitting there was a ball. She bent down just as two girls ran over to her. She picked up the ball and held it out to them. "Is this yours?"
The tallest of the girl nodded and took the ball from her. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Neo said.
"You're really pretty," the shorter one said.
"Thank you," Neo said. "You're pretty cute yourself."
The little girl's brown eyes sparkled. She giggled then ran away.
"You'll have to excuse my sister," the tall one said. "She's still young and doesn't have all of her manners."
"That's all right," Neo said.
"You're new here, aren't you?"
"I am." Neo nodded. "How did you know?"
"We get a few other visitors here but no one with your coloring," she said. "What cluster did you come from?"
"Cluster?" Neo asked.
"You know, other clusters like this one you're on," she said.
"This place is called a cluster?" Neo looked around. "I thought it was an island."
"An island?" The girl tilted her head. "What's that?"
"A landmass that's identical to this one," Neo said.
"Landmass? Never heard of it before," she said. She eyed the animals with Neo. "Those critters sure seem to like you. Do they belong to you?"
"No, they…I mean I found them in the forest," Neo said.
"I see," she said.
"Come on, Lana! Let's play!" a boy called.
"Coming!" she called back over her shoulder. "Well, I have to get going. Bye."
"Bye," Neo said. She stood up and wandered through the town. "I wonder why they call this place a cluster. It doesn't look like a cluster of anything."
She came upon a small building with the word 'Atheneum' on a sign over the door. A couple people exited the building with a few books underneath their arms. She watched them walk away before entering into the building. Her eyes landed on rows and rows of books. The smell of books sparked a tickle in the back of her mind. Joy bubbled up inside of her chest. She was excited.
"I'm sorry, but animals aren't allowed in the athenaeum," a woman said.
"Huh?" Neo brought her eyes to the woman who spoke. The woman was sitting behind a small desk. She then looked around at the animals. "Oh, I'm sorry. I should have known they wouldn't be allowed in here. She opened the door and waved them out. "Outside with you all. I won't be long." She turned back to the woman. "I really am sorry."
"It's all right." The woman adjusted her glasses. "You're new here, aren't you?"
"It's really that obvious?" Neo asked more to herself than the woman.
"We don't get a lot of strangers," the woman said.
"I'm just here to look for history books," Neo said.
"They're on the back wall," she said.
"Thank you." Neo turned and walked to the back of the room. She turned down the last isle then stopped walking when the title of a book caught her eye. It was about memory loss. She plucked it off the shelf and opened it. She only managed to read a few words before her head started throbbing. "Diseases that cause progressive damage to the brain…vascular, fron-tote-mpro-al…ugh! I don't understand any of this. If only I could I might be able to understand why I can't remember anything but my name and ordinary everyday things."
With a heave sigh she placed the book back on the shelf and turned to the shelf behind her. After a few seconds of looking at the spines of the books she finally pulled one off of the shelf with the title 'Star Line'. It had to weigh almost ten pounds. She sat down on the floor and opened the book on her lap. Neo scanned her eyes over the words. "The clusters of the Star Line are made up of star dust from what many believe are fallen stars from the sky." She hummed and continued reading. "Though no one is sure exactly where the clusters really came to be there's one popular story that has been told since the beginning of time. A long time ago a sailor from the other side…" She wondered what the other side was since it didn't mention it and continued reading. "…and discovered and powerful crystal that's said to be able to shape and reshape the clusters into a powerful weapon." She flipped to the next page to see an illustration of a crystal in the shape of a twelve-pointed star then continued reading. "It's said that the sailor was able to move the clusters and form the weapon. Upon doing so he found a lot of hidden treasure. He became very greedy. Soon he wanted all of the jewels and money in the Star Line for himself. He killed anyone who didn't give him what he wanted. The more greedy he became the more powerful the crystal seemed to become. Many began to suffer and a lot died from dissent. Before long the crystal had turned to liquid and covered his body. The man became a tyrant. All hope appeared to be lost until one day a young girl arrived. The crystal reacted to her. Somehow she was able to pull the crystal from the sailor's body and put everything back to normal. In order for this to never happen again she shattered the crystal and scattered it over the Star Line in hopes that it would never be found and used again. In doing so she was granted the star scepter to help rule over the Star Line. Her descendants have been watching over the Star Line since then with the scepter by their side."
Neo flipped to the next chapter of the book. "Well, that's interesting. So this cluster is basically an island itself." She continued reading. "The clusters are home to many strange creatures that don't appear on the other side. Some believe that these creatures were normal until they were infused with the radiation of the crystal. Others believed these creatures already existed in the Star Line and have only been discovered since the Star Line was. However, there are also normal creatures from the other side that have managed to find their way here through the gate either by themselves or they have been brought over by someone." She paused for a moment. Throbbing appeared behind her temples. She rubbed them in an attempt to get the pain to stop. "The other side…another sea perhaps?"
A few moments passed before the throbbing stopped. Closing the book she stood up and headed back to the front of the building. The woman was still sitting at her desk. Neo walked closer and cleared her throat. "Um, excuse me?"
"Yes?" The woman looked up.
"Could you answer a question for me?" Neo asked.
"Of course," she said. "It's what I'm here for."
"This book keeps taking about the other side," Neo said. "What does it mean by that?"
"The other side is referring to the other side of the Star Line," she said. "Not many inhabitants go over there but plenty have came over here."
"Do you know the name of the place?" Neo asked.
"I do not," she said. "Not many have expressed an interest in going to the other side. So most of its knowledge is lost to those of us who have lived here our whole lives."
"Is there a reason for that? Or do they really just not have an interest in it?" Neo asked.
"Well, there's a horrible bright star that lives on the other side," she said. "It's a poison to our people. A few have ventured to the other side but only one has ever came back. He was covered in these strange red patches. He kept mumbling about a bright star that burned his skin."
"The sun?" Neo asked.
"I don't know." She took off her glasses and cleaned them with a cloth. "But it doesn't matter. He died. No medication could cure him."
"I see," Neo said.
"So it was decreed by the current ruler at the time that no one is to go to the other side," she said placing her glasses back on her face. "It's not absolutely forbidden so people might have tried going over there to see what's there. If they have they never came back alive. Is there anything else you'd like to know?"
"Do you know anything about memory loss?" Neo asked.
"I do not," she said. "But there are plenty of books in the back if you want to read them."
"Okay. Thank you for your help," Neo said. She walked back to the isle and placed the book back on the shelf before heading back outside. The animals greeted her when she stepped out the door. "Sorry I took so long. But I did manage to find some information on this place. Unfortunately, nothing about who I am and why I can't remember much of anything."
She scanned her eyes around the town again. Everyone appeared to be so happy. It caused a loneliness to settle into her stomach. She didn't like it here. Being in the forest was more settling to her. So she walked away from the town to head back to it. "I'm going back to the forest. Don't worry about him. I'm sure he won't bother me again."
By the time she got back up on the cliff a wash of tiredness came over her. She yawned. "I should take a nap. I'm sleepy. You might be right. I should find a place in the trees."
Walking about a fourth of a mile into the forest, Neo looked up to the branches. Not feeling comfortable enough with sleeping on the ground after what happened with that man earlier she knew she would be safer in the trees since no one ever looked up. She summoned an earth crystal. Wishing for some vines to create a bed, her crystal began to glow. Vines slithered from it and went up to the trees. The vines wrapped around a couple of branches, creating a bed for her. Next she filled her bed with soft flower petals and flew herself up to it using a wind crystal. She laid down. All of the animals that could fly or climb trees laid down around her, giving her their warmth. "Thank you all. It's nice of you to keep me warm. Maybe tomorrow I can decide what I should do with myself."
Neo sighed and relaxed into her bed. Her hand found her stomach when the baby kicked her. "Don't worry, baby. I figure out who we are. And where your dad is. You just rest. Everything will be just fine."