Interstellar Ross

Chapter 3 Remember

Unseelie Pocket Realm

Spring

The darkness was overwhelming, the blackness stretching a distance that none of us could see as we blindly followed the steps down and down. The river water stench faded the further we descended, bringing a new earthy scent of dirt and mildew.

With one sharp whistle from Dimitri, his familiar began to glow a bright yellow. In canary form Freya leapt from his shoulder and swooped down the remainder of the staircase, her light revealing a cavern carved from stone, the grey slabs splintered by robust tree roots.

Yellow fire spread from Freya's body as she ignited the torches that lined the walls, properly filling the space with enough light to see where our feet were treading.

We all gathered before a pool in the centre of the carven that was filled by black water dripping from above.

Dimitri tossed some sort of coin into the pool and ripples fanned out, the water itself beginning to rise and sculpt into the shape of some hellish creature draped in an inky veil. The veil retreated into the water, revealing a rather beautiful young woman standing on the water's surface, body wrapped in a flowing white dress that matched her hair in length and colour.

"We ask a favour of you." Dimitri gestured my way.

The woman turned to study me with murky black irises. "I don't do favours." She spoke in a way that suggested English wasn't her preferred language, her accent one I couldn't define.

"We found Interstellar Ross." Tiberius piqued.

The woman eyed me again. "She is not." She spoke frankly.

"Of course she is." Dimitri persisted. "I know most people never saw her face, but-"

"-That is not what I meant." I decided that the woman's accent was a mix of Irish and something else. "This woman has many names, but only one can be true."

"I just love it when people talk about me rather than to me." I remarked with bite. "Makes me feel loved."

"Look, we just want her to remember who she is." Bryn redirected the conversation.

"We'll pay you." Dimitri added.

The woman grinned. "I don't accept coin."

"I know." Dimitri looked my way. "We'll pay what it costs."

"Very well." The woman made her way over to me.

"I must say, you put Christ to shame with this display." I looked to her planted feet on the surface of the pool.

"Are you sure you want her back?" The woman appeared quite humoured by my words.

"We're sure." Tiberius folded his arms over his chest, looking between the woman and I warily.

"And you want to remember?" The woman finally addressed me directly.

I thought about her question. The life I had lived without knowing who I truly was had been nothing short of a nightmare, I had lived the modern Californian pandemonium. My heart and my mental state had fallen to what I considered as a point of no return. I had no ID and I had no personal connections. I was a ghost; I was barely living. Nobody would notice if I disappeared forever, nobody would care.

I figured I couldn't fall any further; the only way forward was up.

"Let's do this shit." I was ready to raise some serious Hell.

The woman reached out for my hands and I gave them to her, tensing at just how cold she felt. It wasn't a natural cold; it was the coldness of death beyond the burial.