I found myself floating under a red sky, above a black tide that didn’t stop moving. At first, I thought it was water, but on closer inspection, I discovered that it wasn't: it was people crowded together. Their faces were pure despair and they raised their rickety arms towards me as if they wanted to grab me and drag me into their misery.

I felt pleasant warmth kissing my back, and when I turned around, I discovered a golden sun hanging in the sky. A desire was born in my heart to reach out and grasp it in my hands, but I remembered what happened in the basement of the Healing House, how Melinda, Laura and Rodolfo left me alone. That hurt and despair began to beat its black venom through my body.

I was surrounded by a high number of black arms and I couldn't do anything to escape, maybe I didn't even want to. A tangle of hands around me, hands with long fingers, hands intertwining arms, legs, waists, throats, hands that wanted to plunge me into the thick stench of an infinite blackness. I didn't mind too much, maybe if I shared my pain with the other souls in pain, it would become more bearable.

I opened my eyes in a room of tiny proportions. There were beds near me, but I didn't want to go back to sleep, I wanted to stay awake forever and ever.

“Mommy…?”

As I tried to take a few steps, something strange happened: my body fell forward and I had to lean on the floor with my hands to keep from falling. My arms were all muscle and covered with red hair that I thought was beautiful.

To walk, I had to use my arms and legs, as if I were a gorilla. That seemed a bit strange to me because I had the feeling that I used to walk on my legs. I tried to remember my past, but my memory was empty.

“Mommy…?”

There was a shelf full of cans, I picked one up and turned it over. It was full of weird letters that I didn't understand, but from the smell coming out of it I knew they were full of food. I stuck my mouth in it and crushed it with my teeth. It tasted delicious.

“Mommy…?”

I was not alone: near me there was a strange creature. It was pale, had a big blue-eyed head and a slimy body. I was not afraid of it, but thought it was funny to look at.

“Uh…Uh… Uh…” That's me laughing.

I approached the creature and put my arms around his big head, rested my cheek on his broad forehead, he gave a low purr and I thought he was happy. I broke away and decided to leave that little room. I went out and up some stairs, at the top I could see the night sky. The creature with the big head was following me, and I decided I would call him Big Head.

At the top of the stairs I stopped a while looking up at the stars, there were so many I couldn't count them. It reeked of burning, so I decided to go and see what I could discover in this place full of buildings. I didn't like these: they are gray and boring. Big Head was clinging to me, maybe he didn’t like them either.

Among the roofs of the houses stood out a pink wall, and I liked it so much that I decided to go there. Although I was afraid that the monsters that were hiding would attack me because if there was something I was terrified of, it was them.

“Monsters…” I said, and the words tasted strange in my mouth because it was hoarse and didn't give me the impression that it was mine. I tried to remember who I was, but my head hurt and the singing of the stars distracted me.

I decided that the most important thing was to get to the pink wall, and we walked. Soon it was dawn and that made me sad because the stars went away one by one. Halfway there I heard a howl of pain and I stood still not knowing what to do, but with the second cry, it became clear to me that whoever it was needed my help.

Soon I came to a wide street and there was one of my own: he was as tall as the buildings, but even though he was a giant he was in trouble. Horrible monsters were hurting him: their heads were burning skulls.

There were three of them: one was big and had the mark of a spider on the cheekbone of the skull. Another was shorter and was fighting with a big axe. I ran in his direction, I hoped to catch him by surprise, but when I was close to him the third of them shouted:

“Iyipada!”

Before I could touch him, I was hit by some kind of bluish energy. I backed away at full speed and thought that I shouldn't attack so casually. I looked at the monster that gave the alert: it was the shortest and thinnest of them all, it was missing an arm and half of its face was damaged.

“Dii naghalin ini nga bug?” said the one with the axe.

I growled and took a few steps to my left. I felt an immense urge to kill them all. The giant's fist lunged at the scar monster, his hand sinks into the pavement and everything shook.

Screaming in pain, the giant's arm came off the body and fell to the ground. The scar monster slashed it with the sword he wielded with absurd ease. From the giant's open wound, a second arm began to grow.

“Dhala suto” said the one-armed monster, it sounded like an order.

“Danshi nizai nizai shuo shenme?!” shouted the monster with the axe and turned to me.

“Izany dia lavo? Samy hafa izany. tsy hitanao ve? Heveriko fa raha raha mahita anao tsy misy favovana izy dia hanafika ano ary ho gaga izy raha mametraka fiarovan-danja aminao aho. tsy manaiky ve ianao?” said the monster of the arm.

“Chi mi… Shit… Tha mi an dochas gun obraich an litreachadh agad….” said the monster with the axe and threw it to the ground.

I didn't know why he was throwing the axe away, but I took the opportunity and pounced on him. Just as I was about to ram him with my body, I hit a half-invisible shield again.

This time it was worse because it exploded and threw me into the air. I hit the wall of a house and fell to the ground. I reeked of burnt hair, my beautiful reddish hair was ruined and that made me furious.

“Jy was heeltemal reg, Lucia” said the monster with the axe, who picked it up from the ground and approached me.

“Qaphela..” said the one-armed monster walking behind him.

He was the one who created the shield, so I had to kill him first. I snarled at the axe monster, threatening to attack him. I ran in his direction and the he prepared to fight, but I easily jumped him and head towards the one-armed monster. He attacked me with his sword and cut my flesh, pain and blood. I didn't care, I threw myself on top of it and raised my arm to the sky, closed my hand into a fist and prepared to burst its flaming skull with a single blow.

“Lucia…?”

The name came out unintentionally and I didn't know who it was. I stepped back quickly because I could see the axe monster coming towards me.

I looked at the giant, it was lying on the ground and no longer had any arms. The ones that were born were small and grew slowly. I didn't think they would grow fast enough to help him in combat.

He sobbed for help, but I was not strong enough to do so. The one-armed monster got up from the ground and walked away without taking his eyes off me.

The monster with the scar climbed on top of the giant and this tried to shake him off. But his little arms were unable to reach him, and he couldn't stand up either because his legs were also cut off. The scarred monster thrust his sword into his chest, and the giant let out a howl of pain that soon died away. He didn't move again because he was dead, and I felt bad: I came to help him, but in the end I could do nothing.

“Hey, buddy… I recognize the shape you're in… Why don't you be a good boy and go away? I know you're probably perplexed, but you're not like that big Fallen, you're different and you might be able to become human again… Why don't you leave?” said the monster with the axe to me.

“What are you saying, Godofredo, he's a monster, all monsters must die!” shouted the one-armed monster.

I understood that one wanted to kill me and the other was happy for me to leave. I decided that it was better to run away as it was impossible for me to win that fight and, besides, I would have exhausted all my will to fight.

I started running down the street away from them and didn't stop until I reached the burnt building. There I made sure that the monsters were not following me, and so it was: the street was empty.

“Mommy…?” I heard Big Head say as he came up the stairs of the burnt building.

I was glad to see him because when I went to help the giant I left him behind without noticing, I ran to his side to give him a hug. Subsequently, we headed for the pink shield because I thought we would be safe inside.

It wasn't long before we were in a street cut off by the pink shield, and I carefully rested one of my fingers on it. Where my finger fell, circles opened up and enlarged around it, I felt no danger.

Inside the panorama changed and although the buildings had the same shape, their colors were different: lively, cheerful, crazy… The sky was not the grayish blue of the other side, either, but had the softness of a lemon yellow.

There were friends everywhere and their shapes were curious, none of them the same as the other. I was fascinated to see how we can have such different bodies: there was one that was like a mushroom that had grown a lot, another was a gigantic nose with two legs and two little arms, but the most surprising of all stood out over the rooftops: it was like a naked woman, with pale skin and hair that behaved as if it were down the water.

I heard a song and forgot about my friends: it was a beautiful melody without lyrics, nor was it accompanied by instruments. Hypnotized, I followed the trail of the song until I reached a square crowded with friends. Among them was Gustavo, and he no longer had froggy legs, but long and slender ones, which gave him a rather elegant touch.

His head didn't change at all: it was still triangular and with three black eyes on both sides. I walked up to him, he was quite a bit taller than me, and touched him one leg to see how it felt. He looked at me and sniffed me; I thought he recognized me because he gave me a lick on the head.

The singer stood in the middle of the square, on top of the decapitated head of a man with a powerful chest. He was strange, he was like a person, but more than two meters tall and his body was covered in black bandages from head to toe. In addition, he wore on his chest a lock bound by padlocks that encircled his waist, fell over his shoulders and joined at the center of his back. In his face covered by the bandages, the gleam of red eyes was visible. As he turned his attention to me, the song cut out and he said:

“Please leave me alone.”

My friends hurried to leave the square, and I did too. I tried, at least because the singer spoke again and said to me:

“Could you stay, please? I would like to talk to you.”

So, I stayed there, although neither Big Head nor Gustavo left. The singer didn't seem to mind that at all because he didn't repeat the order. He jumped down from the decapitated statue and approached me. His movements were smooth for someone as tall as him.

“Aren't you a curious creature? For some reason, you have not been fully converted. Fragments of lost humanity remain in your soul… Are you one of the VHX's attempts to use the heart gems to create stronger soldiers?” asked the singer.

“Uh…?” I said, I had no idea what he was talking about.

He tapped me on the forehead with his long finger and laughed.

“Yes, that's what happened to you. And a Marked One too, precisely The 900 Lives. It's funny that you came to me so soon, considering the fate that awaited that person. Do you know who I am?”

“My name is Maeloc, nice to meet you, could you tell me your name?”

As I tried to remember my name, it felt like a nail was driven through my forehead and through my brain.

“Oh, you don't remember? I guess it's only natural, considering your transformation. Anyway, you have the Mark of 900 Lives, do you know what that means?”

I shook my head.

“You can help me,” he replied.

I quite liked the idea and nodded in agreement.

“I'm glad to see you want to do it, but… right now, you're not you. Or at least, not a whole you. I need you to be human again…” he said and that confused me, I didn't think I was a human.

“Uh…” I said.

“You have to remember the person you were before your transformation, do you understand? Search your memory. What you have to find is your name and then you might be able to become a human being again,” said Maeloc.

I closed my eyes and searched inside me: I was filled with thick fog, and I felt a hundred burning nails piercing every inch of my head. But I struggled harder to find my name in the midst of all that pain. I couldn't remember anything about being a human and just as I was about to give up, a spark lit up my brain, I remembered something wonderful, something I could never forget! My beautiful hair of fire!

“Sabela, my name is Sabela!” I shouted enthusiastically.