Find Your Wings

Chapter 9 - Waking Up

Suddenly I was on the torn up couch in Ryan's cottage with Ryan, Star, and North all staring down at me.

"Oh, Amber, thank goodness you're OK!" Star said, sounding very relived.

"W-what happened?" My head hurt from whatever had just happened in that weird memory.

"We were talking outside and then you suddenly just... Fainted." Ryan lied, "I didn't know what to do so I just brought you in here. You've been out for 5 hours."

"5 HOURS?! I was out for 5 HOURS?!" I sat up straight and then fell back down from the effort.

"You need to rest." Ryan said to me and then turned to Star and North, "I'll keep an eye on her. You two go make something to eat." I'm not sure I like the idea of me and Ryan together in a room alone.

After North and Star left, Ryan turned over to me and just glared.

"What was that?" I finally asked.

"What do you think it was?" He replied.

"I think you just let me see my mom die, but I-"

"She isn't dead." He cut me off.

"What do you mean, she isn't dead? Did you see what Edgar did?"

"Yes. I did see that. But she isn't dead. He didn't kill her. He just... transferred her."

"Transferred her?" What was he talking about? "And what else happened there? Why did I not remember that? How could have I not known who my real mother was? I need some explanations and I need them now."

"OK, OK. So this is what happened: you were a little girl when Edgar took your mother away. He knew that if you found out she wasn't dead you would immediately start looking for her, even though you were only 6 or 7. So he cast a spell on you and your father. He made him fall in love with your step-mom, and then he made all of you believe that you have always lived together as one, happy family. Then your father died, and your perfect little family became the classical fairytale with the dead father and evil step-mother, only you didn't know she was your step-mom, you just thought she was your biological mom that hates you because of reasons you will never understand. You find yourself a friend, who happens to be a fairy, and my sister, and try to get away from your sad little life, only to realize that if you don't go on this huge quest that might cost you your life, she will die. So you try to ignore it for as long as you can, but you realize your birthday is in one month and you have to hurry. You find the boy, you find me, you think you are this hero, this "chosen one" that will save the world from years of blindness. But you forgot one thing: no matter how hard you try, you will never be more than that sad" poke, "little" poke, "Neo." And then he got up and walked away.

"Wait." I called, "Why Neo?"

"Neo means new. They said you are a dawn of a new era. But now you're Amber. I think They just thought you couldn't live up to your name, so they just changed it." He said the word They with such a meaning behind it, I could tell he was referring to someone he wasn't telling me about.

Who's They? And an era of what? I know Ryan is reading my thoughts. I can feel him in my head. But he isn't answering any of my questions. I think that for the first time, even he doesn't know the answer.