Lucent Shadows

Chapter One: Deja Vu

~Prologue~

Before there was a such thing as pollution, before it crossed the minds of humans. Before greed took its place and spread like wildfire, becoming an incurable disease, humans had lived alongside otherwordly creatures. These creatures were Guardians who protected the Earth and its inhabitants. Among these Guardians were Reapers and Faieries, Gods of death and life. It was their job to keep the world at a balance. However, as the world was at peace, there was a human that was not.

Esmond was a faithful and loyal friend to the Gods and Guardians, especially to the Faierie God, Nox. Through the years, Esmond's and Nox's friendship had grown strong until Nox met a woman whom he planned to marry and have children with. Esmond began seeing less of his close friend as time went by and soon he became envious of Nox's relationship with the woman. His heart was slowly consumed by greed and envy, driving him to do the unthinkable. Pollute.

Because of Esmond's actions, the world was driven into complete chaos. After a gathering to discuss the world's fate, the Gods came to the final decision of sending humans into oblivion. When they came to, memories of the Gods, Guardians, and the once peaceful Earth were gone and replaced with new memories. A new life full of the known pollution, greed, money, good, and evil.

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"Devlin, you need to wake up now." 

The first thing I saw was light pouring down on me and out of the golden brilliance came a small girl. She threw me a bubbly smile and offered me her tiny hand.

I was thirteen when I woke up in the hospital with no memory at all. I still haven’t recovered anything. All I know is that I need to stay strong and push through because that's what that girl told me to do. Besides, if my old memories were worth anything, I would have had them all back by now, right?

Since getting out of the hopsital, I've pretty much become the outcast of the school. Everyday gets easier though, I've accepted how my life is. But the whispers I hear at night, does everyone else hear them too?

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"Zandra.."

I woke up to darkness and curled my legs into my chest. 

'What is this place?' I squeezed my eyes shut, rocking myself back and forth.

'Mommy? Where is mommy? Daddy, where did you go? Why did you leave me here?' 

My breath hitched in my throat and I began to sob.

'I don't want to be here, where is my mommy?' I tried to picture my mother and father's face for some sort of comfort in the darkness but found that I didn't remember what they looked like. My eyes snapped open and I jumped to my feet as I heard wimpering and quiet sobs. I squinted my eyes and looked around, trying to pinpoint where the noise was coming from. As I followed the sound of the sobs a black blob among the darkness came into focus. 

"Why are you crying?" I asked it as I moved closer.

"Did you lose your mommy and daddy too?" I whispered.

The black blob formed into the shape of a boy as I was a few feet away from it. He was curled up into a tight ball so that you couldn't see his face. I examined his shoulder length thick black hair and his clothing, crouching over him to get a closer look. I poked at him through his thick charcoal sweater and his sobs grew louder. 

"Hey, don't cry. I know it's dark and scary but we have to stay strong. We'll find our mommy's and daddy's together okay?" I put my hand on his shoulder to calm him down and his sobs quieted.