Ally
I managed to open my eyes, seeing a tan wooden ceiling. I sat up, groaning. I rubbed my head. I blinked, seeing weird clay figures and orbs and silk rugs and clothed draped all around. In my opinion, it kinda looked like a darker version of Anthropology.
Do you feel fine? A voice said.
I looked around wildly, and saw a dirty blonde-haired girl, wearing a silk, orange kimono, printed with an orange blossom in fire. She stared at me with light blue eyes.
"You tumbled from the sky out of a blue portal," The girl said. "You did look like a dead monkey." She paused. "My apologies! I forgot to introduce myself! My name's Keesa Firestar, and you are?"
I opened my mouth to say my name, but all that came out was mumbles. Then, a terrible feeling swept over me. It felt like there was a huge, jagged stone was planted into my stomach.
I had no idea what my name was.
Keesa took to finger cymbals, and rang them in front of me. She shook her head. "This is interesting. You do not come from here, do you?"
"First of all," I said. "What is here?"
"You're in the land called Lynara. The town you're in is called Bondrum." Keesa said. "You... you come from the Human World, yes?"
"Aren't you human?" I tilted my head.
Keesa smiled. "I am the person who weaves the lives of Lynara's people." She chuckled. "So no, I am not human. I am vaguely close to being one, if you think about it."
A plump woman came in, wearing a hankerchief and with a floral dress for apparel. She gasped, almost dropping her tray of tea.
"Good gracious!" The woman exclaimed. "HUMAN!"
"Hush," Keesa said. She turned to me. "Would you care for a spot of tea?"
I nodded gratefully.
Keesa took the tray from the plump woman. "That is Impa." She said. "She is a human, yes, but she has the ability to erase someone's memory, though she never does that!"
I gasped quietly. I took a cup and sipped it. It didn't taste like regular tea; it tasted like honey and dewdrops. It was delicious.
"You like unicorn tea?" She laughed. "It's my favorite, too! And it's healthy for your heart!"
I coughed. "Unicorn tea."
"Don't worry!" Keesa said quickly. "It comes from the horn of the unicorn. The tea comes from the water it generates from it's horn."
"Yipee." I said quietly. I put my cup aside. "Why are the people so shocked that I'm human? Is it good or bad?"
Keesa paused. An eerie silence wafted around the room, as if I shouldn't have asked that.
"Yes and no." Keesa finally said. "Long ago, there was a legend that a human had come to our land. Of course, it was in dark times, where demonic beings called the Unborne tormented the land, where plants and animals were scarce, hiding in the most difficult places to get to, or simply dead. Our savior, Rina, was a human. She had come out of nowhere, and defeated the evil race. The land had flourished again, and the animals had returned and the plants had regrown."
"But why are they still surprised?" I asked.
"Because," Keesa took a sip of tea. "The Unborne had returned once again. And because our savior is human, she's dead by now." She looked up. "And now I think you're next in line."
Next in line. The words echoed in my head. I somehow felt brave, yet nervous. At school, I'd be the shortest kid in my grade. I took a big gulp of the comforting tea. "Then why can't I find out my..."
My voice trailed off. I saw fire everywhere, and a phoenix was hovering in the middle of it. I gasped, and the vision went away. My palm hurt suddenly. I stared hard at it, and saw a marking that looked just like this: (❂). It glowed orange.
"That's a curse!" Keesa said. "This is the most ominous!"
My heart was racing. I felt faint. "What?"
"You are cursed by the Fire Spirit." Keesa said. "Not Amaterasu, the white wolf. The Fire Spirit."
"How can I get rid of it?" I asked.
"I'll escort you to the town's shaman. She knows how to get rid of every curse." Keesa put me in a dark green cloak. "That will hide your human scent."
I shivered. I couldn't believe the fact that I was cursed.
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