Strangers in Nopal (Asra x Fem OC)

11 - Past of the Past

There it is, the adobe cottage sitting in the desert at high noon, although the heat and warmrh does not eminate in this world. Nothing does, almost as if this place was all an illusion.

Walking up to it, it almost felt familiar, like the homely cottage was still in time, waiting for its tenants to arrive from rheir long journey. And they do.

From the far distance, Alecto spots what looks like two figires riding on a beast, as they settle into the home. Only then does Alecto realize that one of the walking figures was her, and the other's face blurred out. A figure too painful to remember.

She watches as they live through the day, brewing tea, sitting by, conjuring water from dried up fountains. There is peace in here, and another presence that taps into her heart. And that figure, who laid beside her on the bed and conjured the sring from the dry underground. His essence beckons her. She knows him, and...

Tears pour onto her cheeks unwillingly.

She did not want to cry. She did not even feel like crying, yet here she was standing in her tear-soaked tunic watching a forget moment unfold before her.

In the cottage, she warches her sleeping frame, then the blurred out figure next to her. They speak althpugh she could not understand, their voices leaving their lips like muffled noises.

And just when she reaches for the blurred out figure, a sudden bark jolts her from her trance.

She turns back, seeing an unexpected figure standinf before her. A white dog with an omnipotent presence.

It barks once more, and immediately Alecto understood. The dog beckons for her to come, and she does, though hesitantly as she leaves the figure back to his devices. And she could swear, looking back, that his faceless shape stares back at her as she leaves.

She follows the dog, they exit the cottage. Though the outside world isn't the desert anymore, but a familiar dock and the sea.

"You... " Alecto addresses the dog softly, who only looked yp at her with an unreadable expression.

"I know you..."

The dog only barked, tail wagging. Although she shows immediate impatience as a boat appears before them. Quickly, the dog hopped on nd beckons Alecto to join her.

They sail through starry waters in a dark midnight, going particularly to nowhere as land masses were no where to be seen. The dog, her guide, navigates the waters with just her walking stick, and they both sit in complete silrnce until Alecto had broken it.

"We've met before. " She tells her guide, and she only looked back at her with a soundless nod.

"Yes... " Alecto whispers, familiarity taking.

"Scout."

Her name leaves her lips so naturally, and it made scout bark with joy, tail wagging excitedly.

Alecto smiles, but attention quickly stolen by the blinking light at the horizon, growing as they row closer. And in no time, the shining light forms a figure of a light house in a quaint island similar to the Magician's. Only, it is quieter, and the looming light house calls for her.

Scout escorts her out of the boat and up the path, entering the light house until they find themselves at the top, a cat holding a vase--and the light--it was a star.

Scout barks, finally catching the cat's attention.

"Oh!" She squeaks, turning to them, soft face turning to delight at the sight of Alecto.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes!" She beamed.

"You're the--"

"Star, that's correct!" She grinned. "And we have met before."

"I... " Alecto's surprise quickly wavers as the Star's familiar face eases her amnesia. Insteadzshe accepts this fact,  the lighthouse now very familiar to her.

"Do you remember?"

Alecto furrows her brows as faint memories pour her thoughts, though it was just filled with noice. Muffled and repressed. Not really, she tells the Star, but the feeling is all too familiar.

The Arcana just nods patiently at her, eyes still beaming.

"That still takes work, but there is a reason why you're in my realm, correct?"

"I... I think so..."

"Don't doubt yourself, dear." She points her paw at her. "Second guessing yourself will not bring you closer to what you seek."

The Star reaches for the vase in her hands, filled with water that held its own physics and fluidy as she tossed it in mid air, forming a blob instead of splashing onto the floor.

"Now, I see it is not the first time you're missing memories. But, that is a lot to catch up on."

She swirls the bubble of water in mod air.

"But you can't afford to be overwhelmbed by every discover again and again. This time, there are different answers. Different memories. Because you lived a different time, the memories you now seek are different."

"Different... How?" Alecto gazes at the bubble, mesmerized as soft colors begin to swirl... Forming an imagery.

"Now you're closee to asking the right questions!" the Star beams.

"The first time you lost your memories, have you figured out the parts of your life that were missing?"

Alecto gasps silently as she remembers her recent discoveries, on how she was resurrected, and how she lives on the body of an Arcana. The Fool, the power coursing through her... And a sacrifice. But of what and how...

Her memories were blank at that point, as if it refuses to show itself... Until now.

"Yes..." Alecto whispers. "The past of my past. That's all I remember. " She says.

"And where did it stop?" There was tone in the Star's voice, as if she was egging her to finish her thoughts.

"A ritual." Alecto answered. "A banquet. And--I woke up?" She says, now the empty hold of the puzzle revealing itself to her.

"I was resurrected. Someone made a deal... A sacrifice... " Alecto puts her hand on her chest.

"A sacrifice of half a heart... "

The expression on the Arcana's face softens as the realization finally hits Alecto.

"Who's... Who's heart."

With finality, the Syar gives her a soft smile, the bubble finally revealing the memory to Alecto. And she watches her past self, waking up after the resurrection in the arms of a familiar, white-haired magician. And this time his face is no longer blurred.

She watches the memory, how he cradled her in his arms, how he whispered warm reassurance in her ears despite her not hearing, or her not understanding. Just him, and her, and nothing else. And finally, his name leaves her lips with a soft tremble, faint and whisper-thin.

"Asra."

His name was like a sigh of relief, a saving grace, or a found resolution. A weight lifted of her chest, but then a new sense of longing looming over her. She rembers him now. She remembers it all,  and it's painfil because she now recofnizes his warmth and his essence, his magic, and the tug in her heart. The very reason whu the universe calls her up north. All this time,  it's calling her to him.