In the meadow where grasses bathed in morning dew, a forlorn shack stood weakly in solitude. Inside, a woman dressed in ragged clothes lay peacefully on the table. With a warm gust of wind, the woman jolted awake, eyes darting around cautiously, her memories in a haze.
As she lifted her head, her eyes fell on a silver locket hanging from her neck. It was embossed with a crescent moon and the name 'Fleur' in perfect calligraphy. With a frown, Fleur extended her index finger to trace the crescent moon before setting the locket down on the table.
Her eyes scanned the shack as she staggered to get up on her feet, wincing at the pain as she leaned against the table to balance herself. As she stumbled, she noticed how disheveled her condition was. The hem of her wrinkled and faded dress was stained with mud. Her left foot was missing a shoe, leaving it wounded and dirty.
The shack wasn't tidy as well. There were withered leaves and junk pile scattered across the floor. While papers and stationery lay messily on the table.
She picked up a shattered mirror from the ground and examined her face. Reflected on the mirror was a lady with a petite face and dark blue eyes that have sunken evidently from fatigue. Her lips were chapped and pale. While, her platinum hair have been disheveled and dyed with blood.
No words could describe her confusion. All of this, her state, the shack, and her unfamiliar face didn't made sense to her at all.
"I...I-" Her throat seemed to dry as words tried to escape her lips to no avail.
The lady winced and grimaced as she felt a sharp pain from her abdomen. Fleur choked and coughed aggressively, a pool of blood escaping from her mouth.
She gasped and exhaled heavily as she reached out to her abdomen in which she surprisingly found a dagger stabbed on her. With a thud, she fell on her knees as her surroundings took an abnormal change, burning without a warning.
The former peaceful shack now engulfed by the fire eventually turned to ashes. Flames danced around the lady chaotically as embers fall endlessly.
"Fleur..." A faint voice called out but the lady couldn't bear to look up anymore as her eyelids droop from pain and exhaustion.
"Wake her up," a voice of another person called out.
"fleur..."
"Fl..."
"...eur"
"..."
"AZRAEL"
Without a warning, the faint voice suddenly turned into an almost incomprehensible shriek, sending a chill down the lady's spine. At the same time, this unexpected turn of events gave her a vague recollection of her forgotten memories.
Azrael's eyes shot open. She tried to search for the voice but as she tried to lift her head, her neck met a cold metal that beheaded her.
.
.
.
It remained dark until it wasn't.
Azrael woke up from a tap on her shoulder.
"Fleur, look what I found."
Azrael tried to block the sunlight from hitting her eyes as she looked at the young girl standing in front of her, holding a bunch of daisies in her hand.
"That's not my name," Azrael frowned at the young girl in front of her, noticing the confusion of the red haired girl.
"Stop being so silly," She felt a crumpled paper land on her head as another red haired boy sitting on the branch of a tree teased her.
Azrael stomped her feet as she got up, feeling more energetic than before. She pat her abdomen and found no dagger. With a sigh of relief, she surveyed her surroundings and felt something amiss.
She looked at her tiny hands and felt that she had turned into a child.
'This is a dream.'
Her irritation soon turned into skepticism and vigilance. She felt a gaze from her back and saw a familiar black haired girl staring at her from behind a tree before disappearing into the woods.
Without any hesitation, Azrael followed her, hoping to find answers.
She ran to the woods, not minding the branches hitting her face and the rocks that scattered on the ground wounding her feet.
pant... huff...
Azrael catches her breath as she halted in front of a lake.
Her eyes wandered around, searching for the girl. She heard a chilling voice from behind as she felt a hand push her. Azrael was caught off guard by the sudden action of the girl and fell.
"You're not supposed to be here."
She flailed her hands and feet but her body seemed to sink further as she tried to swim upwards. Devoured and drowned by the water, Azrael could only watch the blurry figure of a child watching her as she sank before leaving her.