AURA: Revive Edition

Chapter 3: The Outer Region

Ren found himself screaming as he got up from a bed, although he couldn't remember why. Was it a bad dream? If it was, he had already forgotten all about it. Gasping for breath, he looked at himself- he was shirtless, and his chest and left arm were fully covered in bandages. He looked around- he was alone in a large, brown tent. It was a little dark, with the only thing lighting up the place was a single lantern hanging on the tent's center. There were other beds, but no one was using them. The beds were small and foldable, even the one Ren was lying on.

"Oh! You're finally awake." A young girl with long blonde hair dressed in a nurse's outfit hastily stepped in from outside the tent. She was carrying a tray of various bottles of medicine. "You were sleeping for about a day, you know..." She put the tray on the bed next to Ren's. "I was just outside when I heard you scream. It startled me! I almost dropped the tray."

Ren was still panting hard. "Where am I?!" he asked as his eyes continued to dart around the place. He finally made eye contact with the girl. "How did I get here?!"

"Well, we found you in the river shore just near here." she said as she took out a thermometer and put it between Ren's armpits. "You were covered in bruises when you arrived. What's your name, by the way?"

"Ren." he answered instinctively. "You?""

"I'm Danica." she said. "I'm the rebels' resident nurse! Well, not really... I'm just an informal student and apprentice."

"Wait, what?" Ren wasn't sure if he heard that right. Danica took the thermometer. "Rebels? Rebels from what?"

"Hmm, you're fever has gone down. You had a high fever yesterday, and you kept groaning and mumbling about stuff."

Ren ignored what she said. "Rebels from what?!"

"Are you even listening?" Danica asked, a little annoyed.

"I am listening!" Ren insisted. "I'm just-"

"Confused?"

"Yeah..."

"It's okay..." Danica sat down the bed beside Ren's, rattling the tray and its contents a little. "Now, I know you're confused on how you got here. And I'm curious how you wound up here. So I'm gonna ask you some questions... Where are you from?"

And everything flooded back all at once. A grenade going off in the hospital, Garnet scolding him for sleeping underneath the oak tree again, seeing his parents get dragged into the Olympia, the crowd cheering as Roarke paraded the streets. Raven saving them from the Gaian soldiers before being beaten by Roarke effortlessly in the Embrace's throne room. He, Garnet, and Natalia running away when Roarke and the black armored soldier and the white cloaked lady jumped them and... and then... and then...... ...

Seeing Ren suddenly stare into the distance and shake, Danica put her hands on his shoulders. "Okay, okay, I think I triggered something." She laid Ren down on the bed. "Uhm... You don't have to answer that question!"

He remembered Garnet screaming his name, but he couldn't remember hearing it. Roarke took her. He remembered being thrown into this portal of light by the white cloaked lady. Roarke took her... He remembered falling in this light and waking up in a rivershore. Roarke took Garnet. He remembered this violet-eyed girl. Roarke took Garnet! Roarke took everything!

And Ren found himself lying down the bed. "Where are you from?" he remembered Danica asking.

Feeling like he'll get lost in his thoughts if he didn't say anything, he shouted, "He took everything!" as he found himself suddenly drained of all energy. He tried to keep his eyes open, but everything just became blurry again.