Chapter Text
She opened her eyes to a pale blue sky. Soft white clouds, little more than suggestions of fluffy forms, drifted overhead in the warm, gentle breeze, slow and languid, no storm to chase them away. The sun hung somewhere to her left, not visible, but its beams brightened the sky with each passing moment, deepened the blue into a breathtaking boldness.
She wasn’t sure how long she lay there. She might’ve lain there forever.
It was voices that eventually drew her attention away from the sky. She tilted her head up, stubby grass blades prickling her cheeks, her scalp, her bare arms and palms where they splayed out beside her, and her gaze snagged on it.
Massive stone walls, encroached with dark ivy, spearing high into the sky.
What am I looking at?
She sat up. The new view didn’t help much.
She was surrounded on all sides by these stone walls. They were mottled grey and brown with age, run through with veiny cracks. The ivy was tangled and leafy, surely thick enough to scale all the way to the top, although the prospect filled her with apprehension. A fall from high up would definitely kill you, or maim you for life.
All around her, people were beginning to investigate their surroundings. There weren’t many of them, somewhere around twenty or twenty-five, and all appeared to be girls. Young girls. Not one looked over nineteen, and that saddened her for some reason. She herself was… She was…
… How old was she?
Try as she might, she just could not remember. Panic fluttered in her stomach, discomforting and nauseating. Her mind began to churn, searching desperately for a memory to grasp, a snippet of recollection, something to tell her who she was. But there was nothing. A blank nothingness.
Her breath stilted as she inhaled sharply, catching on her ribs, the bony wings of her panic.
I don’t know who I am… I can’t remember who I am!
“Hey, hey, breathe.”
Warm hands holding her shoulders, broad and slender-fingered. A teenage girl kneeling down before her, staring with brown eyes heavy with concern and her own fear. Her dark skin and her dark, kinky hair, a soft halo about her head, were turned to brilliant bronze under the sun’s blaze.
“Take a breath, sweetheart,” the girl said, biting her lip before attempting a hesitant smile.
She breathed in slowly, deeply, keeping her eyes on the girl’s.
The girl’s smile turned more genuine. “Yeah, like that. Good. Keep doing that. Can you tell me your name?”
“My name?” she echoed.
“Don’t think too hard about it,” the girl said. “It’s in there somewhere.”
She let her gaze drift towards the sun, steadily climbing behind the girl’s head.
My name…
She wet her lips, curled her fingers into the spiky grass.
“Sonya,” she said. “My… name is Sonya.”
It felt right. It flowed easily off her tongue.
The girl squeezed her shoulders—a brief squeeze of warmth—then pulled away, her hands brushing Sonya’s skin as she leaned back on her heels.
“Nice to meet you, Sonya,” she said. She extended her hand. “I’m Harriet.”
Sonya shook the girl’s hand. Still warm, still lit up a lovely deep caramel shade by the sun’s rays.
“Nice to meet you,” she said back. “Um… maybe this is strange to ask, but do you remember anything? About yourself?”
Harriet’s eyes fell past Sonya, then flitted quickly around their stone enclosure.
“No,” she said, sighing. “From what I’ve gathered, nobody else does either.”
She shivered, finding that all of them could not remember themselves concerning, but another part felt comforted, knowing that she wasn’t alone in this strange amnesia.
Harriet stood, brushing dust and loose grass from her jeans. She held out a hand for Sonya to grab.
“Care to take a look around with me?” she asked, her tone humorous in the way of covering one’s fear.
Sonya didn’t comment on it, instead accepting the girl’s offer and allowing herself to be hauled upright. She tucked her loose hair over her shoulders and smiled.
“Lead the way, Harriet.”