Chapter 1: The awakening

?'s POV

"-hden".

I woke to the sound of a voice, and an extreme pain on the back of my head. Had somebody hit me too hard and knocked me out cold? It certainly felt that way, my head was killing me! I tried to move my hand and stroke the spot where my hand hurt, but when I tried, my arm didn't move. I did not feel any sort of cloth around it, so it couldn't have been some sort of strap holding it down. I tried again, my arm refused to move. I tried my other arm, then my legs, then my head, but nothing moved 'Am I even on a bed?' I thought to myself. After struggling to move for a little while, I opened my eyes to try and figure out what was going on.

What I didn't expect, was that there was nothing at all!

I was floating in nothingness, all around me there was nothing to see but pure darkness. I tried to look around to my sides, but even then I wasn't able to move. I started to panic for a little about breathing if I really couldn't move at all, but I calmed down as I realized that air was coming in and out through my nose. Because I couldn't move my body, I just drifted on ahead. For some odd reason, the darkness didn't cause me to panic, in some way it was a little calming. In my mind, I tried to remember what happened and how I got here, but nothing came to mind. So after what felt like days, I thought 'How long am I going to float on for?'

"You will awaken in due time, Aden."

That was when I started to panic! Even though there was nobody around me, somebody started to talk to me! Maybe they could have been behind me, but that didn't really matter. But just like with my memories, I couldn't put my finger on who exactly the speaker was. Even if I did ever meet her before, it didn't matter now. I tried to talk, but my mouth remained as stiff as a statue. I thought about how exactly the person heard me, when I didn't even talk at all. Maybe she was hearing my thoughts? I decided to try and test that out.

'Uh, hello?' I asked through my thoughts.

"Greetings again, Aden." the voice responded. So my theory was right, it could read my mind! After hearing it a second time, I decided to try and analize the voice. It sounded like a girl, around maybe, her older teen years? Her voice was light and soft, and had a friendly, comforting feel to it. I gave up on trying to figure out the voice though, it was obvious that even if I tried, I wouldn't know who this woman was. For some reason, it was really hurting my head thinking about it. She also said "awaken", so I figured that I was sleeping? I wasn't sure. Since there was nothing else to do but just float around and wait to wake up, I responded again.

"Um, hello. Sorry if this sounds weird, but, who are you? And" I gave a long pause. I was a little hesitant to ask the next part, but it simply rolled off of my tongue. "Is Aden really my name?"

"Oh goodness," The woman gasped. "He took away your memories too?! Why must he be so cruel?" The voice said. '"He?"' I thought, even more confused now. 'Who the heck is "He?" Is he the reason I'm here in this... place?'

The voice sighed, you could hear a touch of sorrow in her voice. "I am so very sorry Aden, I should have never involved you in this."

'I don't understand, get involved in what?!' This conversation was not going smoothly, I was just getting even more questions than answers here, and this woman wasn't just giving me a straight answer! 'Why can't you just tell me what's going on?!' There was a long pause.

"I apologize Aden, my power has already began to waver because of him. I can only leave you with this; You must seek out your allies, as fast as you possibly can! You do not have much time!"

'WHAT allies?! Why can't you just TELL me?!'

"I cannot say more, he is close. I leave you in the hands of the Great Fairy. Farewell Aden."

"WAIT!" I tried to call out to the voice, but no response came. The woman was gone. Was she being chased, or hunted? If she was, it must of been from that "He" that the woman was talking about. I was once again, left floating doing nothing in the nothingness. I don't know how long I was left there. Maybe it was minutes, maybe it was days? It's hard to keep track of time when a thousand questions run through your mind at once.

After another eternity, something finally happened, but I didn't like it.

A strange symbol appeared in front of me, yet another thing I couldn't recognize. It looked like a triangle with an upside down piece missing inside of it. The triangle was gold, with the three pieces connecting it just barely touching each other. For some reason, it seemed extremely important, but I wasn't sure why. It may just be me finally seeing something, but the figure made me calm down and clear my mind from all of the confusing questions. But then all of a sudden, a dark, gloved hand appeared out of the blackness, reaching out for the golden figure. And with little to no effort, crushed the triangle, shattering it into hundreds of tiny pieces. They all fell down into the darkness, disappearing from my line of sight.

'Good feeling is gone!'

As if it me think, like the female voice had, the hand seemed to notice me. It unclenched itself, and after lingering for a moment, it zoomed over to me to try and grab me!

I could suddenly move again, and I shielded myself with my hands. I closed my eyes tightly, trying to prepare myself for when the hand would grab me. But it never did. Instead, a strange, bright grey light shined brightly through my eyelids, and I heard a deep yell of a man in agony. I opened my eyes, the gray light was a bit brighter, but my eyes managed to adjust. What I saw, was a very strange sight. The dark hand was retracting, trying to pull away from the gray light!

I then realized where the light was coming from, the back of my hand. More specifically, my left hand. I then took my hands away from my face, and slowly looked down. On the back of my hand, was the triangle figure from earlier! But this time, something struck me as very odd. The main source of the light came from a half of the missing middle piece.

But then, the middle piece half glowed so bright, I had to close my eyes to prevent myself from being completely blinded. I began to feel drowsy once again, and I felt an extreme weight on my eyelids. I started losing consciousness, and I feared what would happen when I wake up, or what would be waiting for me. Before I passed out, I could hear one last female voice. What she said, would linger in my mind for the rest of my adventure.

"It is time to begin your awakening, Aden."

I woke up on cold, hard, damp stone. Thinking about the dream, or whatever that was, those last words were still in my mind. "Time for my awakening", what was that supposed to mean? I already woke up anyways, so what else could she mean? I decided not to think on it too much, and sat up. My headache was back from earlier, hurting from my nap on the ground. I stroked the back of my head, and I felt a sort of scab. It felt slick, and it hurt even more when I tried to touch it. I pulled my hand back, opening my eyes again. Looking down at my hand, I could see, what was left on my hand, but just barely. There were a couple blue stains on my fingertips, and some strands of orange hair left from me feeling my head. This was illuminated by a dim light, but it didn't come from overhead. Was it night?

But it wasn't, or at least, I didn't think so, because when I looked up, I could see a very smooth, stone celling. 'Am I, underground?' I questioned. I looked around a little more, finding the walls to be made from bricks. Aside from a high up ledge, it didn't look like there was a way to get out. People have been there before, obviously. 'But where AM'-

My thought got cut off as I looked in the center of the room. There was a wide, perfectly round pool of shallow water. But in the center of the pool, there was a woman, sitting on her knees and staring right at me. Her skin was more pale than the moon, and she had long, slick, green hair that fell down all the way to her waist. Her ears were pointed, which seemed strange until I remembered that MY ears were pointed as well. From first glance, it would look like she was barely wearing anything! But she was, thankfuly, wearing a skirt to cover up her... *ahem* lower half. However, there was nothing left to cover her... chest, area... but her long, shining greenish-blue hair. When I first saw her, I may have jumped back a little bit from surprise. She giggled a little from that

As she laughed, I noticed one last thing about her. Sprouting from her back were multiple bright, thin wings. They floated in the air, it would look like if the wings weren't connected to the woman's back, they would fly up and out of this weird cave we were in. The glow from earlier, it was coming from the woman's wings! It gave off light that was like a cloudless night with a full moon 'Who is this woman?'

"So, you finally wake." Her voice, it was something I couldn't describe. It was enchanting, magical even! I was at a loss for words, who, or rather, what exactly was she? When I finally found control of my mouth, I decided to reply.

"Um, h-hi?" I said, obviously still nervous. I could feel my ears start to get a little warm on their tips. 'Does that usually happen I don't think that usually happens.' Even all of my thoughts were jumbled. I was a stupid, nervous mess!

The green haired woman just giggled some more. "What? There is no need to be nervous, I'm harmless!" she said. I wavered for a second, but for some reason, I trusted her. I cleared my throat,mustered up the courage to speak again, and tried asked where I was.

"Um, hello. Just, where am I exactly?" I said. The green haired girl smiled a friendly, genuine grin.

"Oh, I apologize. I have not introduced myself yet." The girl waved her hand to show me the strange cave I was in. "This, is the Cave of Ordeals. And I, am the cave's guardian, the Great Fairy."

The name immediately triggered a memory to resurface! Before I woke up, the voice told me she was leaving me "in the hands of the Great Fairy!" 'Did the woman take me here? Why?'

"So, who exactly might you be?" she asked. I fumbled around, trying to find my words again. After a couple of seconds of not answering, the Great Fairy looked at me curiously, like she thought something was off about me. 'You look like an idiot right now! Just say something!' I thought to myself. I finally found my words again and answered.

"I-I'm sorry about that. My name is…" 'What was my name again?' I couldn't remember at first, I was just drawing blanks. But I then thought back to my dream, I remember what the voice had called me. "Aden. My name is Aden. Hey, if you don't mind me asking, how exactly did I get down here?"

"Ah, I expected that this would happen." The Great Fairy said. "Do not fret Aden, I shall explain. Please, sit." She said. Even though there were no chairs or stools, I sat down anyway. The ground was still a bit uncomfortable, but I could still deal with it. I already laid down there for who knows how long, what was a few more minutes? She then began to talk.

"I was sitting here in my pool, conversing with my fellow fairies. Then one of the fairies rushed towards us all, and said that there was someone at the entrance, unconscious! I told the fairies to bring you down here, and they did as I asked. You had injuries scattered all across your body, but with my spring water, I managed to heal you back to full health. However, that event was three days ago, and you showed no signs of waking. But every now and then, I could hear your mumblings while you slept. You spoke of things such as "him." Now, I assume that you can explain to me on what that means?" she asked. I thought for a moment, but then shook my head. "I'm sorry, I don't really know khow any other way to explain this. The only reason I even remember my name is because of my dream." She put her hand to her chin and closed her eyes, deep in thought.

"Hmm, interesting." She said. Then she looked me in the eyes. I once again became nervous, but it thankfully didn't last very long this time. "Then perhaps you can explain to me your dream?" This time, I nodded with confidence. 'Finally, something I actually know, something I can answer!' But right as I was about to explain, I paused, holding myself back.

"Okay, but are you sure you want me to tell you? It's pretty strange." The great fairy once again giggled. "Aden, I am the Great Fairy of a fifty layer cave! I lived through the war of Twilight where there was shadow creatures, strange small bird-human hybrids, and an alternate realm where all of those things are normal! Truthfully, I do not think it could be the strangest thing I could have heard."

All of those things I just heard were probably the strangest things I have ever heard, but it seemed pretty normal to her. I trusted her too, since she was the person who helped me get back to health. So, I decided to tell her everything about my dream. In extreme detail.

If you somehow managed to read this far, thank you very much. I'm currently trying to make some improvements to the story, so hopefully the rest of this story will be readable to you. It won't all be improved, but there will be some adjustments here and there. Thank you for reading this story!