Element Oasis: Project Zero

Chapter 20

The Familiar Face of a Mage

Zero groaned as the sun shined brightly onto his face. His eyes opened slightly and allowed the light to penetrate his eyes which made them burn a bit so he closed them again.

"Wake up, Zero."

The familiar voice of a feminine woman caused him to instantly sit up and start looking around only to find no one in the small room. The window was open slightly, allowing the light breeze to blow across his bare skin. He looked around the room to see if he could recognize anything so he could figure out where he was. There were pictures on the wall. A child and two women. Both women were holding hands in most of the pictures, and in others, it was only the blonde-haired child that looked nothing like either one of them.

A knock on the door broke him from his investigation.

"Hey, are you awake?"

Zero took a deep breath. "I am," he answered dryly.

"May I come in?" the voice spoke.

Zero looked down at his state of undress but felt less embarrassed knowing that he had the blanket to cover himself.

"Sure," he answered.

He could hear the twisting of the doorknob and the squeak of the door as it slowly opened up. A beautiful woman walked into the room with a nervous smile on her pale face. She looked around Zero's age but was shorter than him by a lot. Her ears were pointy and her eyes were as green as the forest. She wore a dress with no shoes or socks to cover her feet. The elf woman was holding a large tray that held a glass of water and what seemed to be a plate of food.

"Hey, I know you're probably hungry and thirsty so I brought you this." She laid the tray down on the small dresser next to him.

Zero nodded his head and took a quick sip of the water. "Thank you," he said while bowing down slightly. His voice finally returned and sounded less scratchy than before.

"I'm-"

"Zero," she said quickly while cutting him off. "Sorry, I'm a huge fan."

The teen looked away slightly as nervousness and embarrassment took over his once calm composure.

"My name is Lara. I live here in this little treehouse just outside of town. Your two friends took you here in a sort of panic."

"Where are they now?" Zero said as he leaned towards her slightly. "Are they ok?"

Lara backed away slightly. "They're fine. They were just as tired as you and fell asleep on the couch. My girlfriend, Kara, is taking care of them right now."

Zero took a deep breath and smiled. He knew that they had both worked hard during the fight while also trying to stay calm. "They must have been exhausted," he thought to himself as he smiled while looking at the blanket.

"How long have we been here?"

"This would be the second day. Your friend didn't get any sleep the first night while waiting for you to wake up. They were sitting in those chairs, weapons in hand, waiting for anything to happen so that they could protect you while you couldn't protect yourself." Lara smiled as she looked at both chairs in the corner of the room. Zero looked over there as well. "They really care about you," she said as she pulled her eyes away from the chair.

"I know," he answered while closing his eyes. Guilt had made his heart begin to race and the memories of Valeria flashed into his mind. The day in the carriage, the day they spent doing reputation missions, and the day on the ship. He remembered her personality and her soft voice.