Project cosmos: The Golden Ring

The Living Sand Castle

As we walked farther down the shore, the laughing got louder. We saw a small kid, maybe six or seven years old, kicking a sand mound. Well, I thought it was just a little sand mound until I actually saw it.
It was a beautifully decorated sand castle, decked out with shells of all sizes and colors. The sand seemed to almost shine, unlike the sad, wet sand that covered the rest of the beach.
Everytime the kid kicked the sand castle, it looked like it was mending itself. Shells that fell off floated back into place. Fallen sand flew back up to its exact place. It was like magic!
"Hey, kid! What are you doing?" I asked the him.
He wiped his head around. As soon as he did this, a blast of sand came from the side of the sand castle and hit the kid.
When he saw me, he yelped and ran off.
"Who the heck was that?" Sandy asked.
"No clue," I said.
"You really have a way with kids. You can make them run away faster than I can!" she laughed.
"You're a terrible person,"
"You're just noticing that now?" Latona sighed.
Before I could respond, the sand castle started shaking, like there was a mini earthquake. The sand turned from a pale tan, to a golden yellow. The shells disappeared, and slowly, so did the sand.
And in its place, was a kid who looked no older than me. He was just sitting there, staring back at me.
"Who are you?" I asked him.
"I am Djehutimesu Gruffross, son of Saffron," he said.
"What kind of name is that?" Sandy scoffed.
"Everyone else calls me DJ," he said.
"And who would that be?" I asked.
"My friends! Jimmie must still be around here somewhere..." DJ said.
"Jimmie? Like Jimmie Myrrine, from Cabin 29?" Mark asked.
"Ya, have you seen him?"
"We were just talking with him before we left on a quest,"
"You mean he's not here?"
"Of course not. Why would anyone stay at this dead-end beach for five years?"
"FIVE YEARS?!" DJ yelled.
"Only if I'm assuming you're the kid Jimmie was talking about..."
"DJ, went you left camp, how old were you?" I asked.
"Eleven,"
"Yup, we've got the right kid. I guess you can come with us. We'll be heading back to camp after we finish this quest..." I sighed.
This kid had quite the past. Too bad he can't remember anything that happened in the last five years... Algy was talking to me again. I think I might just show you.
And I blacked out again. This time, I went alone.

I woke up in the middle of New York City. Algy was standing next to me. But to my surprise, he was alone. Amser was nowhere to be found.
"Where's your sister?" I asked.
"She's with our mother. Since Amser decided to stand up for you again, and our mother hates you, she's being punished," Algy explained.
"What?!"
"Don't worry, she's fine,"
"Alright..." I sighed.
"Now, that kid you saw, I want to show you his past,"
Algy directed me to an apartment building. We walked up the stairs, up to one of the highest floors. At the end of the hallway, was a small kid, crying in the corner.
"That's Djehutimesu. He just got some disappointing news, it looks like," Algy said.
The door in front of DJ slammed open. A man walked out and grabbed him.
"I thought I told you to leave!" the man yelled. He dropped DJ to the ground. "Now get out of my sight!"
DJ ran through the hallway and right passed us.
"I'm assuming he can't see us?" I asked.
"You would be correct. What your seeing is merely a projection in your mind," Algy explained.
"What just even happened though?"
"His uncle kicked him out. I don't know if you could tell, but that man was obviously drunk,"
"Makes sense,"
We walked in the same path that DJ went. We saw DJ run through the city.
"Alright, let's fast-forward a bit," ​​​​​Everything starts moving faster than Sandy drives.
We see DJ and a little Jimmie walking through the city. Behind then, I see a disguised satyr. She was walking with another little girl. I didn't recognize her at all. The satyr taps the kids on the shoulders and tells them to go with her. Then she proceeds to throw the three kids into her car.
"So all satyrs are kidnappers?" I asked, remembering when I first met Sandy.
"I guess you could say that ." Algy said.
We fast-forward to the three kids and the satyr walk into Kyanpo No Anzen.
Then the vision ends. I'm back on the beach with my friends and DJ.
"Do you want to come on our quest?"
"I guess so. It's not like I have anywhere else to go..." DJ sighed.
Why did Algy think it was bad that DJ didn't remember his past? It looked to horrific! Maybe he isn't as good as I thought he was. And he didn't even care about Amser! For all I know, Athaiah found out how to kill a goddess already!
I couldn't get those thoughts out of my head...