Riza Chronicles: Book 1

Where, why, and WHERE?!

"Riza, wake up! Please!"

Just as the voice had asked of her, the girl shot into a sitting position. She was panting heavily, and could practically feel her ribs cracking from how hard her heart was pounding. As she tried to calm herself down, the teenager drew in deep, steady breaths and looked around.

Whoever was calling out to her didn't seem to be anywhere near. For some reason, she seemed to be in the middle of a forest. The girl had fallen asleep on the ground; an old, worn leather bag had been placed under her head as a sort of makeshift pillow. As far as Riza was concerned, she was completely alone. No other person was in sight, and there were no obvious signs that someone else had been in the area at all.

Mysterious person aside, there was another problem that highly bothered her. 

She didn't recognize anything. 

Sure, forests could be a bit disorienting if you didn't pay enough attention. There were so many trees around that it was easy to get messed up; especially if you stop for the night in order to sleep. However, this was a bit different. The teenager didn't even remember falling asleep in a forest. Why she was here, she had no idea. Riza was certain that last night she had gone to sleep in her... in a...

Crap, she couldn't remember what happened the night before. Hell, she couldn't remember what happened the day before. It was all just blank. There were no words to describe what it felt like, except for darkness. 

Besides her current thoughts, her mind held nothing but a dark void. 

The only thing that she could remember was her name; and that was only because the mysterious voice had said it. 

Panicking a bit, the girl climbed to her feet. An uneasy feeling in her stomach grew as she packed up the few belonging that apparently belonged to her. Besides some basic necessities that she shoved back into the leather bag, there was a strange mask as well. It was white, with small devil horns and bright violet eyes. It was here that Riza began to notice her own appearance as well. 

A weird, gray shirt that had both a short sleeve and a long one; as well as a blue glove that covered her left hand. Teal pants, worn black boots, and a crescent moon that covered both her glove as well as a tight necklace that she was apparently wearing. 

And to top it of... Stupidly long blue hair. 

When the fudge did she get blue hair? 

Like everything else, she couldn't remember what she was supposed to have looked like before. But, Riza was pretty sure that colored hair wasn't supposed to be in her genetic code. 

Drawing in a deep breath, the girl made her way in a random direction. She didn't know where to go, there was no path to follow. There wasn't even a river that she could follow downstream and eventually find civilization. On top of everything else, the fact that she didn't know how long she needed to walk just added to her mental strain. 

Luckily, a town had been within reach. It only took her about half a day of constant anxiety and self-doubt to finally get to it. The town itself wasn't too big. It was actually kind of small and cute; and didn't appear to be a big buzz to any tourists. It was one of those places where everybody pretty much new everybody, and where it was pretty obvious to pick apart the locals from the visitors. And like with everything else in her life recently, not a single thing looked familiar. 

Riza wandered around for awhile, dazed and confused. She fought with herself whether or not she should ask someone for help. While it was possible that the stranger might be kind and at least try to be helpful, what would she even say to them?