Lost

He was hit by a wave of vertigo.

“AHAHAHA!” The Wraith’s snake like and wicked voice resounded within his mind. “Enjoy my gift.”

Everything was dark, blacker than the night.

Then someone was shaking him and he slowly opened his eyes. A girl stared down at him. She had bright blue crystal eyes and rich, red colored hair flowed down to her waist. She couldn’t have been older than eleven. She wore a serious expression, her eyebrows scrunched together.

“Wake up brother, it’s time,” Valentine said in a low whisper.

Lost yawned, pushing his sister back, “Alright, give me a second.”

Getting out of his bed, he shuffled over to a mirror on the wall of his small square room. Under the mirror stood a dresser. Lost opened it, pushing clothes to the side. He pulled out a long bundle.

Looking up into the mirror, a face stared back at him. It was of a tanned boy, eleven years old. He had a head of unruly red hair and shared the same colored eyes as his twin sister. Crystal blue.

Gripping the long bundle tightly, Lost turned back to his sister.

“Let's do it, Vey,” Lost said in a grim but determined tone.

She quietly walked over to his door and opened it silently. Lost followed her, walking carefully so the wooden boards wouldn’t creak.

Creeping past an open door, Lost peeked inside. He could hear heavy snoring from inside. Their Master, Brohmin Zekia, was deep in sleep.

Opening the door outside, Vey and Lost stepped through it silently. Taking a deep breath of fresh night air, Lost nodded to his sister.

They both ran into the forest behind the small building they now called home.

Looking at trees, Vey stopped and said, “This is the one, Cyrus. Quickly.” She pointed at a large moss covered tree.

They both crouched down and started digging up the dirt at the base of the tree. When they were finished, Lost pulled a large leather sack out of the hole. Vey fished out a small shovel.

Setting it down on the ground, he opened it. Inside was a black rose. It looked healthy and pristine, you wouldn’t have been able to guess that it was picked a month ago and imbued with death magic.

Vey had used a spell to help sustain it’s life force, so it wouldn’t die in a few days. Lost still marveled at her power over living things. It was a staggering power.

Pulling out the flower, Lost handed it to his twin sister and grabbed a thick book out of the bag. A flat, metal picture of a laughing skull decorated the front, a crown of thorns around it’s head. The book was only a little bigger than his hand and a lock was firmly attached to the right side.

‘The book still gives me the creeps,’ Lost thought. Was he doing the right thing? Would they finally be reunited again? A loving family?

Getting up, the siblings walked a little deeper into the forest, following a trail worn in the ground. They eventually came upon a small clearing, the full moon illuminated it in an eerie light.

Nothing but a small grave was in the clearing.

Lost walked up to the headstone, brushing his fingers over the words.

‘Here lies Kassandra RavenCroft. Loving mother of two.’

That was it, nothing else. Just those eight words.

He didn’t know how many times he had sat in front of this grave and whispered the last words his mother had ever heard, “Are you proud of me, Momma?”

Standing up, Lost took the shovel from his sister and started digging up the grave.

He didn’t know how long they spent digging up that grave, switching every few minutes. But when they were done, Lost had started to seriously question whether this was right.

Vey and Lost stared into the hole, looking down on a white and dirt stained, human sized bundle.

“Are you ready?” Vey asked Lost, an eager tone in her voice.

Lost tried to lighten the mood with a joke, “I was born ready. You were the one who wanted to stay.”

Vey only gave a little smile, and as quickly as it appeared, it vanished.

She held the black rose out in front of her, taking deep breaths. Closing her eyes, she started to chant. The words didn’t rhyme, they didn’t even make sense as a sentence, just a string of different plant types.

Her job was to rejuvenate the body and make sure that it was ready to receive the soul. The flower would help Lost anchor the soul to the body, acting as a way point.

Runes started to appear on the simple white bracelet around her wrist, glowing amber.

Lost unbundled the white cloth, revealing a masterfully crafted sword. It was as dark as night, runes etched into it.

Lost set the leather book down on the opposite side of the grave from his sister. Cutting his thumb on the edge of his blade, Lost pressed his thumb to the keyhole on the book.

The skull book opened with a click. Picking up the book with one hand, he stood up.

Pointing his sword at the cloth shrouded body of their mother, he pushed mana into his blade. The runes along it’s length glowed a bright amber.

Looking at the book, Lost started chanting the words along the page. He didn’t understand the language, or what the words were, but he knew what they would do. It was a guttural and rough language.

His mind became fuzzy and his eyes unfocused.

Lost’s job was to locate their mother’s soul and haul it back to the world of the living, anchoring it in the body.

He was still speaking, but he couldn’t hear it. He felt trapped, unable to move.

Then he saw a mental door in his mind.

Reaching out to it with his mind, he hesitated.

Was this right?

Then he dismissed it, there could be no doubt that it wouldn’t work. That it wasn't right to reunite a shattered family.

Lost opened the door, and his mind expanded. First he saw the world and he saw it all. Wolves stalking a herd of deer. A ship traveling over a vast sea. A elf smith using a magical smelter. Dwarves mining ever deeper into the earth.

He could see everything, everyone. But it went too fast for him to process. Desperately, he tried to hold onto the images, only catching a few.

Then he was traveling through space. He saw all the desolate worlds out there, eventually his mind reached the ever growing edge of space.

That was when his mind went farther than any man, elf or dwarf could ever imagine. He saw millions of universes, alternate dimensions and the fine and fragile seams holding them together.

He saw earth. Planes, cars, ships, skyscrapers, fields and war.

Lost tried desperately to hold onto all of the images, every last one of them, but it was like trying to catch wind in a cupped hand.

What felt like entire years, but he knew it was only a few seconds, he saw everything and everyone. Then the words appeared in his mind, a question.

‘Are you proud of me, momma?’

His mind became focused and he begun searching for that one soul in a infinite sea.

They were everywhere, between the seams of the universe, watching and moving on. Always moving. They would move till they faded to nothing and were reborn again as a new being.

Lost envisioned the souls as fish, swimming in an ocean.

Calling out with his mind, Lost’s vision sped in all directions.

Then he found it, the soul he was searching for. He scooped it up in a mental net, dragging it back with him. It squirmed violently, trying to get free, but Lost wouldn’t let it escape. He wouldn’t let her leave them.

Lost dragged the soul of his mother through the universes, until he reached the one his body resided in. Pulling and pulling, until he was back in that small forest clearing.

This was the unclear part.

He untangled the strangling soul from the net. Gripping it tightly in imaginary hands.

Lost hadn't gotten a proper look at it before. It was an opaque white, with two big black eyes and a long tail. A round, rain drop shaped body, with slippery skin.

His sister stood perfectly still, sweat rolling down her face. She held the black rose out in front of her, the bracelet around her wrist glowing amber.

Grabbing onto the soul’s tail, Lost shoved it into the rose.

Vey’s eyes snapped open wide and the rose in front of her starting changing colors, from black to white. White and black swirled in the flower.

Lost let go of the book, dropping it to the ground. The cover snapped shut and the lock clicked back into place with finality.

Gasping for breath, Lost fell to his knees, looking at his sister.

She smiled a hopeful smile and walked over to the grave. Crouching down, Vey laid the flower on the chest of the body inside.

The flower glowed a bright white, the center pitch black.

Then it crumbled to dust, the light fading.

Lost shuffled over to the grave on all fours, looking over the rim. For a horrible moment, he feared it wouldn’t work, that they hadn’t gotten to her in time.

Then there was the sound of breath being drawn in and the white wrapped body’s back arched. Falling back down, it started pulling in air.

He could feel the fear dissipating to the wind, and in that moment Lost felt happy. They had done it.

Their mother started struggling against the white linen. A hand ripped through the cloth, almost like a butterfly emerging from it’s cocoon.

That was when Lost knew something was horribly wrong. The hand’s skin was shriveled and gray. A scream pierced the night, as the monster they had created struggled against its bonds.

“Mom!” Vey yelled, “It’s alright! You're fine now!” She jumped down in the pit, a crazed fervor in her eye.

Lost reached out to pull Vey back, grasping onto her shoulder, he pulled her back. She struggled against him, but to no avail as he sent his remaining magic to reinforce his limbs.

She started doing the same, but Lost yanked her out of the pit right as the thing that used to be their mother escaped the white linen. It was a horrible thing, the neck snapped and skin shriveled and gray. There were long strings of hair left on it’s head.

He wasn't sure how, but something clicked in his head and he could see the soul inside it. The soul was no longer a white fish. It was a light sucking black, resembling more an eel, but with glowing amber eyes. The Dark Soul struggled against its bonds in the body, hissing and spitting.

“Stop it, Vey! That's not our mom!” Lost said to his screaming and kicking sister.

“No! NO! LET ME GO! MOM! MOM, HELP!” Vey yelled reaching her hands out to the Dark Soul.

The corrupted soul saw them then, turning it’s black eel head to look at them. The the corpse of their mother lurched forward.

“C-come here chi-chil...children. It's… alright. Come t...o y-your mother,” The horrible creature rasped, reaching its shriveled hands out to them.

That was when Lost realized that his sister couldn’t see the Dark Soul that lived in their mother. She was to wrapped up in the excitement of their mother being back.

When Lost looked at her, he no longer saw the soft face of his sister, but one of a crazed girl. She had snapped from the strain of bring life back to the dead.

Looking back at the Dark Soul, it was only a few meters away from them. It was still speaking with their mother’s voice, but it was raspy and it held no emotion.

It lunged forward, and Lost pushed his sister to the side. Grabbing the sword that lay to his side, he thrusted it forward. The Dark Soul impaled itself on the blade.

Black blood poured out from the wound, but the blade didn’t even faze it. The Dark Soul clawed its way forward, on top of Lost and using it’s full bodyweight against him.

The nails on its fingers were cracked and dried, but it dug into Lost’s right cheek, the monster that wore the corpse of their mother hissed, and the body hissed in turn.

Not even thinking, Lost pushed all his power into his sword, fire and darkness combined and the blade burst into flame. But it wasn't normal flame, it was black.

The black fire froze the flesh it touched, slowly spreading out from the Dark Soul’s chest. The black soul inside the body withered as it was consumed and screamed in hate and malice. Then it was gone, only a small wisp of black floating out of the mouth of their mother.

Then as quickly as it happened, it ended.

Lost pushed the frozen corpse of his mother off of him, his sword frozen in it’s chest. Standing up, he stumbled, a severe migraine growing in the back of his head.

He looked at his sister, who stood with a face full of shock, fear and anger. Vey screamed, running to the corpse.

Lost tried to stop her, but she pushed him out of the way, sending him crashing to the ground.

She fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face and clutching the body of their mother to her chest.

Lost’s vision blurred, but he held onto consciousness.

Vey looked at him, horror, disbelief and shock in her eyes. To his horror, the wisp of corruption entered through his sobbing sister’s mouth and she never saw it.

He could see her soul now, it was a bright, luminous thing, just like his mother’s is had been and it swam through her body. Lost watched as the wisp of corruption entangled the soul, growing tentacles and encircling it. But the soul went on without concern, the corruption growing on its back.

His sister screamed in hatred, anger, disgust, terror and pain. Her eye’s filled with malice and pure, murderous rage now.

“I HATE YOU! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS, CYRUS!” Vey shrieked at him. She then gently handled their mother, pulling the sword out of her chest and discarding it. Getting up and turning her back to him, she didn’t look back. Walking off into the black forest, Lost watched as his greatest enemy was born.

He feebly reached out a hand, trying to stop her from leaving.

Darkness crept around the edges of his vision and consumed it, ending the nightmare.