Erik's Journey | The Fall

Mia

The next vision showed Mia trying to polish a copper coin that she had found. I was slowly walking in the entrance and I came to a stop behind her, sighing.

She held up her coin to the light and said, "Hey, you. Tough day?"

I smiled as I took a necklace out of my pocket and dropped it on her head. She grabbed it and held it in front of her. 

"What the heck is this?" she asked, holding it up. 

I turned away to hide my smile and said proudly, "Just something I picked up on today's raid. No birthday's complete without a present, right?"

I glanced in her direction. "Happy birthday, Sis."

"...Huh?" she said. "Is this the best you can do— a rusty old necklace? Honestly, Erik, you need to try harder. What I REALLY wanted was the Red Orb of Heliodor. Word is it's a ruby the size of my head!"

I sighed exaggeratedly, shrugged like Where am I supposed to get that? and plopped down on the ground. 

In the memory, while my back was turned, Mia smiled and held the necklace to her chest. 

I knew she liked it.

I threw my head back. "Well, word is that necklace has special powers. They say that whoever wears it will find gold at their fingertips wherever they go..."

I turned my head and looked at the wall that was kind of in her direction. "It's probably just talk, but it seemed about right for a little money-grubber like you. Guess you'll just have to put it on and find out if—"

Above me, there was a bright light, and I quickly stood up and turned around. Mia was already standing with the necklace on; but in her hands was a shiny, golden coin.

"What the—" I started, confused. "Where did you get that from!?"

She looked up at me. "I don't know... It was a copper coin a minute ago, but as soon as I touched it, it..."

She paused and looked at the ground. There was a small washcloth sitting there, and she bent down and touched it. We both gasped as it began glowing, then it turned to gold.

Mia stumbled back, beginning to giggle. "Shut UP!" she exclaimed. "It works! It actually works! I can actually turn stuff to gold! Ridiculous! This is the best present EVER!" 

I sat there, staring at her, while she jumped around and celebrated. I had a bad feeling...

The memory abruptly ended, and I stood there, staring at the plant. Little fragments of memories were starting to come back to me, but there were still big gaps in important things that I couldn't remember. The Luminary glanced at me, as if making sure I was okay, then he touched the root again and another memory enveloped us. 

This new memory seemed to be a couple of days later, and our entire hideout had golden things scattered about it. Mia was sitting cross-legged on the floor, inspecting a golden cup in awe.

I sighed and said. "You've been at it again, huh?"

She giggled. "What's the matter, Erik? Jealous of my treasures? Tell you what— if you ask me really, really nicely, I'll let you have one!"

She set down her cup and looked around. "Let me see now... Ah— perfect!"

She held up a golden seagull. A sick feeling entered my stomach. 

"W-wait..." I stammered. "You didn't... Did you? ...Mia, this isn't right!"

She studied it. "Yeah, I suppose it is a little small. I forget how greedy you are..."