Perzys Āeterña | Hope Mikaelson

Chapter 1

To the 'P' in 'Pickle.' This last one is for you.

-

February 28, 2030

There was only one thought in her mind.

Get the knife.

She couldn't understand why the image of the knife was perfectly formed in her mind when, to the best of her knowledge, she'd never seen such a thing before. It was different from any knife she'd ever encountered, far simpler than the blades she grew up using.

Her feet carried her on their own, like an invisible force guiding her in the right direction. She was still wearing the blue dress her mother had made for her eighteenth name day celebration.

Thinking of her mother brought tears to her eyes. She wanted to stop and breathe, to think about where the hell she was and why she was here in the first place.

The nagging in her mind didn't allow it. She kept having to walk until, at last, she reached a strange opening in the forest. There was a dark strip of a material she didn't recognize, though it resembled a road. She assumed she was right when a large prism with what appeared to be wheels rolled toward her, stopping when it saw her standing there.

The urge told her to get inside. Whatever she wanted was in there. Though, she didn't wish to enter an unfamiliar place. If there was something within it she needed to retrieve, she preferred for it to come out to meet her.

"Ma'am?" asked the driver. "Are you going to step in?"

"Qūbidē ēsthoc ēl cūltrillō?" she inquired. (Translation: Where is the knife?)

He had no idea what she was saying. "Um, ma'am, I don't speak—?" He cut himself off when he realized he had no idea what language that was.

She saw a flash of movement in one of the windows, a young curly-haired boy moving further back inside the vehicle. She stepped inside, and saw the knife in his hand just before he hid it in the strange cloak he wore.

She reached out for it. "Dāidmehi!" (T: Give it to me!)

He shook his head, as if he understood what she wanted but had no desire to give it to her. She insisted, walking closer, "Dāidmehi āñquam tē ōxīdamete. Ñōn pōssum rēsis. Tēñbeo ūquē sītñēr." (T: Give it to me before I kill you. I cannot resist. I have to retrieve it.)

When he continued to deny her request, she advanced to him. Many of the other people tried to stop her, and she responded by smacking them away. In the time it took her to get past everyone who was telling her to get off whatever a 'bus' was while they waited for 'police' to arrive, the boy slipped out the back window and took off running into the forest.

Angrily, she concentrated, shifting and bursting out of the vehicle. She blew fire directly onto it to keep anyone from pursuing, then flew over the forest, disappointed to find that she'd already lost sight of the boy.

She found a clearing to touch down on, shifting back into her human form. She was glad to find her dress still intact, though singed and stinking of smoke. She started to walk around, doing her best to track him on foot. She didn't wish to burn the entire forest down, but if she had to, she would.

At last, she heard something what felt like many hours later. Multiple voices approaching her. She hid behind a tree, hoping they would pass and let her continue her search.

They found her anyway.

"Woah!" said a man, holding his hands up in surrender as she stood up, glaring at him. "It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you. Were you on the bus? Can you tell us what happened?"