Fabled Dreams || Book 1: Truth

Chapter 8

The temperature had dropped as I made my way deeper into my mind. It dropped one degree, then three, then alarmingly ten. I paused looking around, frowning. Something was wrong. And, with horror as bits of my mind began to darken then was swallowed by darkness. I yelped and turned racing back to the safety of the part of my mind that was Hyrule field. I slid down the wall that surrounded Castle Town shaking in fear as I watched more and more of my mind disappear. I even began to feel myself disappear as it began to close in on where I cowered.

Suddenly a bright light began to pulse from Hyrule Castle and began to chase away the darkness that has been taking over. I felt myself growing stronger. I blinked and rubbed my eyes; And, when I let my hands fall to my sides a young man stood in front of me. He had golden yellow curly hair and eyes the blue color of the clearest sunniest day imaginable. He has olive skin with a rosy glow and when he smiled at me his teeth were unbelievably gleaming white. Like, you know those cheesy prince charming blindingly white smiles? Yeah. Exactly like that and I am ninety-eight percent sure it even pinged. "Looks like I got to you just in time~!"

Everything about him reminded me of the most obnoxious character from Harry Potter, Gilderoy Lockhart. "Who are you?" I asked trying my best to keep my automatic dislike of him out of my voice as he did, after all, save my ass from whatever had been happening. I wondered how long I had been in my mind.

The young man bowed deeply, his grin grew wider and somehow brighter. When he straightened he kept his large grin, "Apollo, the god of music, healing, the sun...."

"I know who you are." I quickly stopped him before he could name everything he was god over. We would be here all day and I didn't want him in my head for much longer.

"Of course, you do~." He said unctuously as he continued to smugly beam at me.

'Oh, gods above make it stop...' I thought quietly to myself. He was making it quite hard to keep my dislike of him on the down-low, "..."

"Alright, let's wake you up now," Apollo said.

I felt an odd lurching sensation and then I groan as my eyes flutter open. I was on a ship from the feel of the ocean beneath me. 'That's right...' I thought weakly to myself. '...Ship...' I looked over weakly to see eight boys watching me anxiously. They all looked frustratingly familiar.

"Arianna!" One of them said as they all crowded in.

I sat up gingerly and scowled a bit at Apollo. "Welcome back to the living." He beamed.

"Welcome back to loud and annoying," I muttered grumpily and sighed to myself.

"Right... you don't remember us." Said the older man of about twenty. "Name's Lewis." He grinned.

"Shadow." Grunted the tsundere male standing in the corner.

"My name's Damien Galiant and that is Phobus, Aaron, and... that is Dallas." Another male said. He gestured to each of the ones he introduced.

"Leif, at your service!" A cute, goofy, childish Elven boy greeted me adorably as he waved enthusiastically.

"And, you already know me." Apollo annoyingly smirked.

I bit back a grumpy sarcastic reply and took a deep breath, "My name is Andromeda Briarwood. A pleasure to make your acquaintance... I suppose..."

"You need to rest," Shadow spoke and walked over to me and pushed me down to lay. He kissed my forehead then ushered everyone out. I blushed confused and closed my eyes feeling heavy and I pass out into dreams.

~*~

The sounds of the ocean and seagulls gently lulled me awake. My eyes flutter open gently. I grimaced slightly from the painfully bright sunshine. The first thing I saw was the man from my dreams, Apollo. 'Great... he's still here...' I thought sarcastically. Then, everything else began to come into clearer focus.

A side effect of Mr. Sunshine in my head was that not just the memories I had just forgotten came back but every single memory that had been hidden from me was regained. I clutch my head in absolute agony. It felt like a bomb had gone off in my head. Years and years worth of memories crashed through the broken barrier that had once contained them. Everything was shut out as I pass out and began to experience each memory in quick succession.

It started out with my first memory when I was only two years old. I was in the garden at a strange estate was my home, it seemed. A tall man in a butler suit was chasing after me and calling for me to stop and come back. Of course, I wasn't listening. I was too preoccupied with wherever I was going as kids do. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and I ran into a woman who was walking up the gravel-strewn cobblestone path towards the manor house on the hill that was my home. I was part of an old blueblood royal family of fae.

The woman knelt as she helped my tiny form up from the ground and then she picked me up bouncing me a bit on her waist as my mother would do. "Hello there, little one." She said soft and kind to me.

The butler puffed up to us and wheezed slightly, "Sorry 'bout the young miss. I will take her now."

The woman laughed a little, "It's no trouble. Is the little one young miss Arianna?"

The butler nodded warily and reached out taking me from the woman's arms, "Correct. And, who are you, may I ask?"

I whined a little when he took me from her. The woman gave me a reassuring smile as she replied, "My name is Breella. I have come to seek a position in the Castelle House as a maid to young lady Arianna."

~*~

It was maybe two days later and I was playing in the grand foyer. I had all my little toys scattered around and I was playing a rather intricate game of make-believe. Breella was cleaning up around me but took great care not to mess with my toys or my imagination game. I ran up to her giggling happily, "Hiii!!!"

Breella looked up from the task she was doing and smiled, "Hello to you as well, little one. Do you need anything?"

I giggle happily, "Can you play with me?"

For the next few months, Breella showed she was a trustworthy and respectable maid and caretaker for me. Until, in the month of Janus. On the seventh day, Breella lured me out and took me from my home.

She took me out to town to go shopping. The cute little shops lining the main road of my hometown, down towards the port of Talmhara, were fair game to a little princess like me. We explored many shops including a children's boutique with really cure clothing. And, a shopping day wouldn't be complete without a visit to the toymaker.

Breella lead me towards the docks. I gripped her hand eating a bag of sweets that she had bought me I started feeling a little sick and tired. "I don't feel good..." I finally informed her, tugging at her skirt. She merely smiled and picked me up. The world spun and then went black around me as I passed out.

I jerk out of the memory daze and cough harshly sitting up too fast. I groan rubbing my head as I looked around. I was suddenly engulfed by a massive group hug. I blinked several times and my surroundings came into focus. I slowly began to process the cabin of a ship, the people hugging me, and the fact I wasn't who I had thought I was.