In the middle of the Vacuoan desert lies a temple of sandstone, guarded by two statues whose true visage and constitution had been withered away through the countless millennia since it had been abandoned by its faithful. Inside the crumbling temple lies a man whose piercing blue eyes were harsher than any blizzard and whose skin was paler than the moonlight that shined on it, the man's body was shaking from whatever ailed him as his body was being pulled back together by inky black tendrils.
The two statues guarding the temple turned their gaze to the man and then to each other, slightly nodding their heads before collapsing in a cacophony of stone hitting stone, as if whatever force was keeping them upright had suddenly left.
With a heavy gasp, the man sprung upright from the floor as he was awakened by the sudden noise. Looking at his surroundings, the man was visibly confused, as he had no idea how he even got into this situation. Getting up from the floor, he searched his brain for any clue on how he got here, that's when he realized he didn't know anything, even worse, he didn't know his name.
Quickly searching his person for anything that might point him towards his identity, he found a wallet in his pockets, pulling it out and looker over the contents inside he found an identification card of a company called 'Gentek' with the name 'Alexander J. Mercer' written right on it.
Okay, at least I have a name now, but I don't remember anything about my past, where the hell I am, or how I even got here. So the best thing I can do is get to a town and ask around. Moving out of the temple, he could see that there was nothing but desert as far as his eyes can see through the pale moonlight.
And so, with no other options, he pulled up his hood and began to trek west through the frigid desert searching for civilization.
As dawn was breaking into the dark skies, memories were beginning to flood back. Not ones of his identity, of course, but ones about the world, general knowledge everybody should know, and surprisingly vast amounts of advance scientific knowledge and theories, especially ones about human biology.
That knowledge is something that made him realize that he wasn't normal. No normal human could walk for roughly 4 hours through a barren, freezing desert and not experience any symptoms of hypothermia or exhaustion, in fact, besides the pounding headache he got when he woke up, he is feeling perfectly fine.
With a sneaking suspicion about his current condition, he crouched low to the ground and concentrated all his strength into his legs for a leap. A leap it was as he flew several meters through the air before gravity forced him back onto the dunes with a heavy thud and large amounts of dispersed sand. To say that he was surprised is an understatement, he just confirmed that he was abnormal.
This new knowledge in mind, he does the most sensible thing and immediately broke into a full sprint. In his logic, if he could jump several meters into the air without breaking a sweat, he could accomplish other superhuman feats of strength, and he was correct.
After hours of running, he could see something on the horizon, a very lush and expansive oasis. Having nothing better to do, Alex decided that he should take a small break and let his body rest, even if he has superhuman speed and stamina doesn't mean his body doesn't have limits that he shouldn't break.
Sitting on the shore of the small lake, Alex felt calm, or at least as calm as anyone in his situation would be. Waking up in an old temple in the middle of the desert with superhuman abilities and no memories of who you were would make anyone stressed, but he still felt calm at his situation.
But thinking critically right now, Alex was in a terrible spot right now. Even if he has superhuman traits that make his life easier, he was still extremely lost. What if he was in the middle of a desert island in the middle of nowhere that was thousands of kilometers away from land, what will he do then?
"Are you alright there, mister?"
A feminine voice drew him out of his ruminations, a voice that sounds so similar to him, yet he cannot pinpoint where he heard it before. Turning around, he could see the source of that voice, a woman with blue eyes and short black hair that reaches down to her ears. She was wearing a black, sleeveless, turtleneck shirt alongside a pair of black pants and a hooded black cloak that reaches to her thighs.
"I'm not sure. It's just… I don't know where I am, who am I, or why did I wake up in the middle of the desert." The features on her face softened as heard what he said before walking and sitting down next to him on the lakeside.
"You know, mister, if you're lost, would you like to come with me? I could teach you a few things, help you get back on your feet." Alex immediately turned towards her in disbelief. Even as an amnesiac, he knew that you shouldn't trust strangers, but there's something about the soft smile on her face that he recognized.
"Fine, but can I ask you a question first?"
"Sure, go right ahead."
"Why are you doing this, I mean, why are you helping out an absolute stranger stranded in the middle of the desert? What do you even get out of it?" She playfully tapped her lips a few times, seemingly not taking his question seriously.
"Because it's the right thing to do. Isn't it obvious?"
"Well, it's not. At least, for me anyways."
"That's why you should come with me, y'know? Remnant's a harsh place with all the Grimm and bandits running around, so we've got to stick together and help our fellow men out."
"So this place is called Remnant… But what the hell is a Grimm?" Remnant? He hasn't heard about anywhere called Remnant. Wait… Grimm? Like the Brother Grimm's fairy tales?
"Jeez. You must've really lost all your memories if you don't know about the Grimm. Wait right here, I'll be right back."
She went off and came back with an Arabian camel equipped with a saddle and bags, she then pulled out a leather-bound notebook and pen. Then she went and sat down right next to him.
"Just tell me everything you can think of right now so I can gauge how bad your amnesia is, okay?"
"Fine."
So he told her about all he knew about the world, it was mostly information about biology, human institutions, and what he knew about science and engineering, the last topic making her face twist in confusion before nothing it down in the notebook.
"Hmm. It seems like you do know a whole bunch of scientific knowledge and most of the basic stuff, but you don't know what's Dust, Grimm, Aura, or any of the main kingdoms."
"You still haven't told me what those even are. Hell, we haven't even told our names yet."
"Oh right, totally forgot about that." She reached out a hand for a handshake. "My name's Lily, nice to meet you."
"Alexander J. Mercer." He took her offer and shook her hand.
"So your name's not a color too, at this point I'm not even surprised. What does the 'J' stands for anyway?" What? Why would someone's name not being a color mean anything?
"I don't really know, since it was the name on a tag in my pockets, so I'm not even sure even if that's my name."
"Well, you look like an Alex, so I think it fits you. And the 'J' could stand for Jet or Jasper." Alex sighs in exasperation before replying.
"The 'J' thing isn't that important right now. So, can you please tell me about all those things you said I have no idea about."
"Let's get started then, there are still a few hours before noon, so let's cram all the knowledge possible. Here, catch." She tossed over the notebook and pen over to Alex. "That's your journal now, make sure to note down what I said, or don't, your funeral."
"Fine, let's get started."
Alex readies his pen before Lily begins to tell him about the oddities of Remnant. He took in the knowledge like a sponge, with many of these topics fascinates him immensely. Although, Alex felt perplexed as many of the things Lily described sounded like magic; which she told him wasn't real when asked.
But what she said also means that he wasn't on Earth anymore, which he felt conflicted by; on one hand, he may never recover his identity before whatever happened to him, and on the other, this opens up a whole new world of scientific research.
Alex finally understood why Lily looked at him weird when he told her about electrical engineering when the topic of Dust finally came up; everything was fueled by it. Due to the history of humanity being far shorter in Remnant than that of Earth's it means that they took technological shortcuts by the usage of Dust. And that made him a tiny bit exited at the prospect of Dust experimentation.
"So what you're saying is that there are super humans with force fields and special powers running around using weapons powered by elemental powder that is used in everything, fighting back against literal creatures of darkness that track people by sensing their negative emotions?" He said as he finished noting down all the information.
"Now that you've said it out loud, it sounds absurd, but it's the reality of Remnant."
"I'll believe it when I see it, but I haven't seen any Grimm yet since I've woken up. Not like I'd like to see one since I don't have a weapon or even know how to fight."
"I'll teach you how to fight, but I'm gonna warn you, it's going to be very grueling." Alex only smirked at her proclamation. He should tell her about his abilities. "But I've got to unlock your Aura first, since y'know, Vacuo isn't a safe place."
"I'd rather not have my Aura unlocked yet, since I've already got some super strength." She gives him a raised brow and a side eye. "Really, I'm not messing with you, watch."
He then uprooted a nearby palm tree, crumpling it into the size of a small boulder before pitching it baseball style, sending it flying across the horizon. Lily's eyes grew wide as she looked at the horizon before looking back at Alex.
"Wow, you weren't lying. Is there anything else that I need to know?"
"I'm not affected by extreme temperatures, don't feel hunger, have seemingly endless stamina, and can run extremely fast."
"You should've told me earlier, now that I know what I'm working with, I know I can train you until you become black and blue." She got up from the shoreside, stretching herself before getting into form.
"Well." He got up with a smirk on his face as he faced Lily head on. "If it means that I improve faster than let's get to it then." The two of them then rushed towards each other as the partnership between the two of them truly begins.
Hi! There's something I'm going to get out of the way. Alex is going to be incredibly OOC with the only slight bits of snark and scientific background showing up, since in my opinion, if Alex woke up in any other situation that isn't "Getting gunned downed and then hunted by a secret government organization" he would turn out far differently, especially if he had a positive influence guiding him. So yeah, that's it, bye.