Morning Glory (A Eureka Seven Fanfic)

1 - I Don't Know What I Am

I always wake up remembering that dream.
It flashes before my eyes and makes me realize that I never truly had a purpose in this world. I have no one. And if I'm to fall and break into a million pieces, would anyone even notice? If I fall from the sky, would they care? Would anyone catch me?

Would you... catch me? Please... Mama. Papa. Can you still hear me?

***

When I woke up I suddenly knew that I had forgotten something. Or perhaps, I had forgotten everything. What can I remember?

My name. Glory.
My age. 16 years old.
My appearance? Brown hair. White dress. No shoes.

I can't seem to remember my history, my location, the reason I even know the few things I do. I guess I truly am a blank state.
I woke up in a forest buried halfway in the ground surrounded by plants that had grown up around my body. Unrooting myself from the soil, I tried walking and immediately fell to the ground like a young fawn.

Let's try that again. I tried standing up again and was able to make very shaky steps towards the light blinking through the brush ahead. I can't tell you how long I walked and stumbled for. Thinking back on it, it kinda felt like several days had passed. The light kept flicking in the distance, beckoning me to it. Nearing the edge of the forest, I pulled several tree branches out of my visions path. Up ahead, I saw a small house with a farm outside. There was a smaller house next door that seemed to be... a workshop? I stepped away from the forest and gasped when the harsh sunlight hit my eyes.

Why is it so bright? I've never experienced brightness like this before.
But also, what is before? Why do the snippets of scenery in my few memories feel so dull?
Stepping out into the tall grass, I felt the blades of amber green tickle my fingertips. I could stay in this sunlight forever, it felt so good. I began to walk faster throughout the field and was able to reach a faster pace, taking my slight limp into account. I finally reached the edge of the field when I couldn't take it anymore and had to stop. Huffing and gasping for air, I laid down on the dry dirt. Holding my hand up to the sky to shield my eyes, I chuckled a bit.

I feel like I'm missing something. There was something I had been asked to do. Flashes of faint memories flew through my head. I think... there was a... hand holding mine. A voice. It was sweet and warm. Eyes staring into mine. They were striking.

"Glory, you don't have to do this."
"It's okay, I know that I can. I know I can."
"Glory, wait!"
"It's okay! I promise it's okay! I'll come back-"

I felt a small jolt throughout my body and immediately kept forward to sit up. I was being poked with a small stick. I looked up to see a young girl staring at me with a curious look on her face.

"Who are you?" She said with her blonde curls bouncing in the wind.

"I'm....Glory."
"That's a pretty name! I'm Maeter."

She offered a hand to help me up which I found slightly hilarious as she seemed so tiny a gust could blow her over.

I took her hand and used my own to help prop me up and stood up. Dusting myself off, I smiled.
"Maeter, this may seem like a strange question. But would you happen to know where I am?"

She laughed.
"You're in Bell Forest. It's my home. And well, it's also Maurice and Linck's home. And Grandpa. It's also Mama and Papa's home too!"

"Wow, you have a big family."

"Yep, I do!"

Maeter's eyes slightly darkened and she pointed to my leg.
"You're bleeding!" She shouted and I looked at my leg. It was covered in a mixture of old dried blood and new fresh blood. I guess I injured myself somewhere along my walk.

"Oh. I guess I am." I said and Maeter pouted.

"Well that's not good at all! I'm taking you to Grandpa, that's what he said we should do if we ever get hurt!"

She grabbed my hand and started to guide me up the hill and to the house in the distance. Opening the front door, she started banging on the walls.

"Grandpa! Grandpa! There's an injured girl I found!"

An older man aged in sunspots trudged down the stairs with two young boys trailing behind him.
"Maeter, I was just telling you the other day about banging on the doors and I-"

He paused when he saw me.

"Who are you?" He said. He seemed completely stunned by my mere presence.

"That doesn't matter Grandpa, she's bleeding from her leg!" Maeter said, pulling my arm like it was an emergency signal.

The man sighed and gestured for me to follow him into the living room. Maeter guided for me to sit down on what she called a couch and I waited patiently. The older man kept going through a pile of clothes on the ground until he found a metal box and brought it over to me. Sitting to my side, he gestured for me to lift my dress up a bit so he could see the gash.

"I see... you really torn yourself up pretty badly here." He gazed into my eyes again as if he was searching for something.

Taking a bottle of liquid out from the box, he poured it over my wound slowly and I winced slightly.

"You don't have to hold it in." The old man said.

"Hold what in?"

"I know alcohol on an open wound is no joke."

"Oh. All I felt was a slight pinch."

He cocked a brow in return and pulled out some of what he called a gauze. Maeter was standing in the living room with a quiet look while the two boys kept gazing at me from the door that connected to the kitchen.

"Maurice, take Maeter and Linck to your room for a bit." The old man said.

"Right!" Maurice nodded and took his siblings hands and went upstairs. He paused on the steps and flashed me a cautionary look before turning around to continue. I wonder what that look meant.

The old man wrapped the gauze around my leg and then secured it with a small metal piece.
"My name is Axel." He said.

"I'm Glory."

"How did you get here, Glory?"

"I don't know. I just woke up in the forest and followed the light. I don't remember anything before that."

"Nothing at all? Not your parents? Your hometown?"

"I don't remember.... Not a single thing at all. Except maybe, maybe that I was supposed to do something. And then I needed to come back."
Axel laughed.

"I don't think it's a coincidence that you ended up here." He said.

"Why so?"

"Let me show you."

He got up from the couch and picked up a small compact from the bookshelf in the living room.
He sat next to me and opened it and held it up so that I could look inside. A mirror reflected my own reflection and I could finally see what my face looked like.

Brown hair. Purple eyes with a red iris. Small nose. Chapped lips.

"You look just like the children's mother. That's probably why Maeter warmed up to you so quickly."

"I don't think... I'm their mother."

"Oh no! I don't think you are either. In fact, I think you look more like the kids father now that I'm looking at you."

I held my hands up in protest and shook them.
"I'm not their father either! This is our first time meeting!"

Axel laughed out loud.
"I am very sure you're not their father. But I do think that maybe you're related to her. If not by blood, then you must be of the same species. Their mother."

"Who is she?"
"Her name is Eureka."

And with those words, I suddenly felt my eyes close as my body crumpled into the couch. As the world went black, suddenly a memory came back to me as if I had never lost it.