Ariqa's quest: Origins of Maria

Chapter 1, part 1

30 years later...

The Darkness has always greeted us when we close our eyes to sleep. Either to give us deceiving dreams or realistic nightmares.

But I woke up to what was not my bedroom but rather on the floor, in the grey grass in the colourless plains that I don't recognise.

I got up by my own feet and somehow felt effortless, which was weird because I had never felt it before due to the fact that I was living in poverty, had little to no food and the fact that I get sick occasionally.

How is it possible that yesterday I was starving, sick, and homeless. But now I feel stuffed, my health is much better, and... WAIT!  WHY CAN'T I HEAR MYSELF OUT LOUD?!

Up until now, I could speak out loud just like everyone else and could talk about the weather and how they are doing today.
But in this case, I couldn't speak out with not just word, but with sounds like moaning and singing!

WHERE IS MY VOICE?! I thought loudly in my mind. SOMEONE, PLEASE GIVE ME BACK MY VOICE!!!

Unfortunately, there was no answer. Nothing! Not even a sound to acknowledge me or even to answer my question.

So much for asking to get help. I thought sarcastically. I decided to get something to eat,

so I looked around to find that on my left is a meadow where there were trees with light grey trunks and black leafs.

Opposite the direction of the meadow was a grey ocean because it had a light grey beach, but it was miles away from where I am, and there were also beehives that were probably a mile away.

In front of me, when I first stood up, there was a grey lake with lots of flowers and sweet berry bushes surrounding parts of the lake, and behind me from a lot more miles away was three white pointed bits that resembles mountain points with a tall point of a black skyscraper a little to the left.

Well, best I check out the meadows then. Before going to the meadows to investigate. I don't know why a god or something else would have me sent here, but it must have been my past that they felt like I needed a second chan-

My foot had stood on the handle of a tool, but unlike the other things that I saw, it had a light brown handle that was long and grey stone axe and hoe attached.

Oh! Guess who ever made this just wanted to cut fewer trees for more uses. Whatever it is that they did, they must have had fewer resources than what we had back in the Stone Age.

There was some writing from where my foot was on, so I moved my foot away from that part of the handle, picked up the tool, and read it.

The writing says 'Chopseed'. So that is what they had named, to two different sides of nature. One to cut off life and the other to bring back life.

When I thought of that, that is when I had learnt how to not only chop down trees but also where wheat seeds were and how to farm everything natural.

Ok then. As I got the Chopseed in my hands. Let's build some shelter and farm some food!

So I got close to the nearest tree, and just when I was about to swing, I spotted another coloured object.

This time, it was a red apple, so I decided to get the red apple, but upon getting to the trunk of the tree, I stopped cold. Nervously cold!

Was there a story about two people in the Garden of Eden where Eve tempted Adam to eat the apple of forbidden knowledge? Will the apple even give me so much forbidden knowledge that I'll be kicked out back to my old life?!

No, it will not. Went a thought I didn't recognise.
Huh? I thought. Who was that?

We are simply guardians watching from the mountains and the skies. Those apples didn't cause the demise of Animanity, only the darkness did, hence why you are here. To repopulate.

Wait! I thought out loud. What is Animanity? What is the darkness and why was it here, and  what happened to the... Original 'Animanity'?

I could hear a sigh from the 'guardian' before it told me telepathically: Look at your hand! I did what it told me to do, and when I did...

What the?!?

That was the moment that changed me forever...