Lumen

Red

Waking up that one morning was one of the bigger shocks of my life. I uh... Didn't really expect to wake up in a clearing of trees. I had no memory of anything before any of this, I still don't. Well... Not much of one. Words sometimes surfaced, but nothing personal ever did. Nothing about a mom or a dad or anything like that...

     Anyway, I'm rambling... I should explain.

     Rose, my name is Rose... The third person to join the castle. They have a little chart of all the names, their colors... And something else... I don't remember. It's somewhere next to Gold's room. Anyways... Like I said. I'm Rose Red, I'm 16 years old, the youngest one in this castle as of today. The rest of them are adults, so it's kinda hard to bond with them without me feeling like I'm being babysat. They really don't know how to hold a conversation with me either, mainly just talking down to me without trying to sound adult like. It makes me feel just small.  Except Peridot, he is just happy all the time, and I like that... But I kinda wish there were other younger people here. I can deal with a few adults with only conversations keeping their mind sane. I'm sure I've dealt with worse before.

Anyway, back to the whole waking up thing.

     I woke up surrounded by trees and stones. Laying in a pile of leaves, which were scratching slightly at my exposed back. I sat up, looking around me and seeing what was happening. First off I noticed that my clothes have been basically ripped to shreds. Secondly, I had no marks on my body. My clothes look destroyed but I have no scratches, cuts, anything.  It's like I threw my clothes at a bear, let him have his fun, and put the clothes back on.

     This is so strange...

     So I just sat there. Not really sure what I wanted to do, but I was definitely confused.  Light filtered through the tall trees above me, landing on the soil around me.  It was peaceful. Calming.  I just laid there, sitting still. Not sure where I was, nothing made sense, but at the time, I didn't care. I placed my hands behind my head and felt my hair. Closing my eyes and wanting to be safe.  I slowly fell asleep... again. The smell of flowers made the trip to sleep very easy.

     When I woke up. It was very dark. I couldn't see stars, trees, or the stones around me, almost like I had my eyes still closed.  A breeze filtered through the air, reminding me that I was still basically naked. To top it off, I had no idea where I was in the first place. I stood up, legs feeling tingly from sitting down for so long. Looking around me, nothing was around me.  There was no light anywhere to see. Slowly, I began to feel my way around the open area of forrest. The crevices of the rocks guiding me in an unknown direction. It took a while, but I finally managed to make my way to a hole in the rock walls. I crawled in, pressing on through a small hole in the stone. The cold air from the outside finally gone.

     It was while I was in the stone I saw my light. Crawling on my hands and knees, I looked at my hands and realized that I could see my fingertips. They were glowing a very soft red color.  Wouldn't even notice it in the daylight. Made me stop and look at them closer.

     The glow came from... Inside of my body.  It's almost like someone was holding a flashlight against my skin and I was looking at the other side. My fingers were getting bright enough to light up a small area around it. Glowing a deep red color.

     Okay. This is getting even more weird.

     I use this... Adaptation to my advantage. I can finally see where I am going. Taking my time, I progress through the cave steadily. Accidentally stepping on a few rocks, but otherwise get out of the cave okay. By this point, my arms are lit up like a full moon. Bright, but still observable. I can see a few meters away from me. The cave ended up opening into a stone room. Moss spiraled up the cobblestone walls and hung on in thick clumps. The room wasn't large. Could fit maybe ten people in it comfortably. At the center, a prism sat. It wasn't any bigger than a fist. It radiated... Importance, like it was not meant to be found. Upon stepping into the room, my arms begin to burn hot. My chest has started to glow red too, and has almost taken over the entire front of my body. The light is pulsating, and taking my body slowly with it.