Echo: The Girl That Time Forgot

Downward Spiral

I grabbed at Ayana, I tried to stop her, I swear! But I couldn't, and I watched helplessly as she dove into the water after Aika.

"Ayana!" I called after her. I would've dove into to the water after her, but Narcissus held me back. Ayana didn't know that this was Mirror's Edge lake, named because from the surface it looked crystal clear, but when you came to the mirror's edge, it dropped off into hundreds of feet of thick mud that she would never be able to get out of.

"Ayana! Aika!" I screamed hysterically.

"Shh. Shhh, it's ok," Narcissus cooed. "They'll be fine."

I pushed him away in anger. "How could you hold me back? They might die!" I yelled at him.

He lowered his head, but then he looked back up at me with his calming green eyes. "I'm sorry. But if I had let you go, you might've died, and I can't let you go yet, not after I just found you." He lowered his head again. "My whole life I've been a hunter, on the move, never settling down. My family only ever wanted me because of my income and the only reason girls ever liked me was because of my face. But then I met you, and you were different. You made me feel important, like I mattered. I know it's selfish of me, but I'm not ready to lose you yet."

I gasped softly as he moved forward and put his lips on mine. Aika and Ayana quickly faded from my mind as I was caught up in the magic of the kiss.

He quickly stepped back, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that."

"Yes, you should've," I whispered and pulled him closer as we began kissing again.

But we were abruptly interrupted when Ayana broke the surface and deposited Aika on the bank. She gave us an odd look before collapsing too.

"Oh my gods!" I shouted, breaking off the kiss and running toward them.

"Wait! We were kissing. What are you doing?" Narcissus called after me.

"Are you serious?" I asked, looking back at him, "my friends are hurt, we need to get them back to the immortal realm."

"Umm, sorry can't help you there, I'm mortal."

"Well I guess I'll see you later then."

He looked slightly abashed, but he turned and started walking back to the town.

I sighed, now I had to deal with how I was going to get two fully grown nymphs transported to the immortal realm.

To get from the immortal realm to the mortal realm, there's a door on Olympus and all you have to do is open it and walk through. Getting back to the immortal realm is a bit more complicated. You have to prick your finger and draw blood with Adamantite, usually we're with Zeus and he always Adamantite on hand.

My eyes landed on Aika's hair whip thingies. "Brilliant," I whispered to myself. I walked over and took one of the shards from her hair, I tried to prick her finger with it, but it glanced harmlessly off her skin. I rolled my eyes, of course, she had been fighting mortals, her hair whips would be on the adamantine setting.

I cleared my throat and did my best Aika impression, "Amoibe." But not to my surprise nothing changed. I groaned now I was right back where I started.

"Aika! Aika! Wake up!" I said shaking her.

Her eyelids slowly fluttered open and she looked at me with groggy eyes. "What?"

"Say, Amoibe."

"Amoibe?"

Instantly her hair shimmered and the whips changed from the dull mortal metal to celestial Adamantite. "Thank you," I said, quite satisfied with myself.